Patent Application
20170006945
The present invention relates generally to decorative accessories, especially for clothing, shoes, bags, hats, hair, or other articles.
Many adults and children enjoy promoting or advertising their favorite schools, fictional characters, sports teams, etc. by wearing T-shirts, hats, or jackets featuring well-known logos or icons. For example, sports fans often wear hats featuring the logos of their favorite teams or the jerseys of their favorite players. Children wear T-shirts or backpacks with images of their favorite cartoon characters printed on them. College students attend sporting events wearing the colors of their schools to display their affiliations. These types of promotions extend to every conceivable wearable or portable item from hats, watches, and shoes to backpacks, bracelets, and dog collars.
But the more items an individual wants to accessorize, the higher the expense. Buying multiple items featuring a logo or character increases the expense of outfitting one's wardrobe. Additionally, these logos or other designs are typically not transferrable. If a parent has three children attending three different Universities, they will need three sets of hats, shirts, key rings, and bags—not to mention the additional items they may need for any children still in elementary or high school.
Moreover, these accessories are typically non-versatile souvenirs. One cannot usually remove a school or sports team logo from a hat and place it on a backpack, for example. And most people do not purchase multiple sets of a particular type of item simply so they can promote their school, fictional character, NFL team, NBA team, and MLB team separately.
An individual's choice of promotional item is also typically limited to what a retailer sells. For example, a store may have thirty varieties of backpacks for sale but only a single type featuring a recognizable logo or character—and even then, likely a limited selection. Customization may be available through iron-on or sew-on patches, but these permanently alter the clothing or item to which they are attached and cannot be reused without damaging the patches themselves.
Thus, the need arises for simple, inexpensive, and reusable accessories that can be attached to multiple types of articles such as shoes, backpacks, dog collars, bracelets, necklaces, hats, belt buckles, hair, clothing, school gear, and other items.
It is one objective of the present invention to provide an inexpensive decorative accessory for use with shoes, backpacks, clothing, hair, dog collars, bracelets, necklaces, hats, belt buckles, and other wearable items.
It is a further objective of the present invention to provide an accessory that easily connects and disconnects to the item to which it is to be appended.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide an accessory that can be appended to multiple types of wearable or portable items.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide an accessory that can be used and reused without altering or damaging the item on which it is appended or the accessory itself.
These objectives are illustrative in nature. Additional advantages and applications for the present invention will be readily apparent to persons skilled in the art upon a review of the invention and the disclosures contained herein.
The drawings referenced below are included so that the features and advantages of the presently disclosed invention may be better understood. It should be noted, however, that the attached drawings are meant only to be illustrative of particular embodiments of the invention and should not be considered limiting of its scope. The invention itself, as well as a preferred mode of use, further objectives and advantages thereof, will best be understood by reference to the following detailed description of the preferred embodiment when read in conjunction with the attached drawings, which are summarized below:
Presently preferred embodiments of the invention are shown in the above-identified figures and described in detail below. In describing the preferred embodiments, like or identical reference numerals are used to identify common or similar elements. The figures are not necessarily to scale, and certain features and certain views of the figures may be shown exaggerated in scale or in schematic in the interest of clarity and conciseness.
The present invention relates to decorative accessories, particularly to fashion and hair accessories. The invention comprises three parts: (1) a small chenille or embroidery design; (2) a backing material onto which the design is affixed; and (3) a fastener for attaching the design to an article, such as a shoe, hat, bag, ponytail, or other item. Preferably, the accessory is between one-half inch and three inches in width and between one inch and four inches in height. The preferred size is optimal for providing an accessory with sufficiently rigid structure to allow repeated use with multiple items.
The design can depict a cartoon character, sports team logo, University logo, corporate design, or simply a decorative design (such as a flower, heart, peace sign, or skull and crossbones) or other design. Preferably, the design is made of chenille yarn and/or embroidery yarn sewn onto a backing (discussed below). The preferred material allows for an inexpensive product that may be collected, shared, and/or traded among friends and family members. Other materials such as wool, lace, or mesh may be used, as well.
The design is sewn or otherwise affixed to a supportive backing. The backing may be soft, rigid, or semi-rigid, and is made of rubber, wool, vinyl, acrylic, cotton, polyester, or other supportive material.
The design and backing are affixed to a fastener for attaching to an article. The fastener is removable and reusable, such that the accessory may be used on or with multiple articles and can be collected, shared, or traded. Discussed herein are four separate embodiments of the fastener that can be used in the present invention. However, additional alternatives are possible and are intended to be within the scope of the present invention.
Preferably, the present invention uses a snap-strap fastener.
The snap-strap fastener has a length 4 and a width 5 and is preferably between one-half and one inches wide and between one and four inches in height. The strap may be made of rubber, leather, wool, vinyl, acrylic, cotton, polyester, satin, or canvas material. The snap straps feature a metal and/or plastic ring and socket snap 2 on one end and a metal and/or plastic ring and stud snap 3 on the other end, integrally connected to the strap portion. The snap-strap fastener is preferably sewn onto the design and supportive backing using a straight stitch or zig-zag stitch 9.
Although the invention has been described with reference to one or more particular embodiments, this description is not meant to be construed in a limiting sense. Various modifications of the disclosed embodiments as well as alternative embodiments of the invention will become apparent to persons skilled in the art upon reference to the description of the invention. It is therefore contemplated that the appended claims will cover any such modifications or embodiments that fall within the scope of the invention.
This application claims priority to U.S. Provisional Application No. 62/190,829, filed on Jul. 10, 2015. The disclosure of the above-cited application is incorporated by reference in its entirety.
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 62190829 | Jul 2015 | US |
