Patent Application
20110115221
This application relates to the field of tying knots. In particular, the application relates to the formation of decorative knots for use primarily in artistic designs.
There is a considerable interest in forming knots from lace, line, string, rope, cable, ribbon, fabric, or any other kind of material known in the art of knot tying. While it is well known that knots can be used to bind and secure objects, knots are also often used in the artistic design of decorating clothing, small personal belongings, house interiors, and the like.
Knots have long been used in the clothing industry, the accessory industry, and decorative design. The kinds of knots used in these applications range from the structural to the ornamental, and in some cases, a knot can be both structural and ornamental (e.g., buttons). Ornamental knots, unlike structural knots, must be pleasing to the eye. There needs to be, therefore, a method of unvaryingly and efficiently tying a sequence of substantially identical knots. Efficiently tying substantially identical knots is particularly useful when the knots are to be arranged in a continuous matter or in close proximity. Using conventional knot-tying methods, however, can make this task quite daunting.
One advantage of the current invention is using the aforementioned principles in combination with a newly discovered knot-creating technique that enables the user to form a continuous, uniform sequence of knots from a single piece of material, such as fabric.
In accordance with one aspect of the present invention, a method is provided for tying a continuous sequence of substantially identical knots. The sequence of knots is useful in the art of clothing design, accessory ornamentation, and decorative design, but may also be used for other aesthetic purposes.
The term “designer” as used herein refers to a person or persons, as the case may be, who devises and/or executes designs related to knots, clothes, or other works in which knots may be used, whether alone or in one or more groups, whether in the same or various places, and whether at the same time or at various different times.
In certain embodiments, the knot may be constructed from a ribbon-like length of fabric. The ribbon-like length may be prepared from any type of fabric known in the art (e.g., acetate, acrylic, cotton, linen, nylon, polyester, rayon, silk, satin, velvet, denim, felt, flannel, microfiber, etc.).
In certain embodiments, the first step in the formation of the ribbon-like length of material is to fold over the end, or edge, of a piece of material as illustrated in
In the depicted embodiment of
In certain embodiments, an adhesive may be used between the layers or the folds to ensure that the ribbon-like length 400 does not unfold before, during, or after preparation. The adhesive or similar material may also be used to prevent the edges of the material from fraying.
In certain embodiments, the folding width in
Once the first overhand knot 408 is formed, the process, as seen in
In general, the embodiments described herein use fabric in the knot-tying process. However, it is entirely possible to apply the process of tying a continuous, uniform sequence of knots to other applications which involve flexible materials other than fabric. For example, in jewelry making, a designer could choose to use metal ribbon, strips or the like when making the metal equivalent of the ribbon-like fabric length 400. The final product could be used in a plurality of applications, including the fabrication of necklaces, rings, or bracelets, or it could be used merely as ornamentation.
Although various embodiments have been described with reference to a particular arrangement of parts, features and the like, these embodiments are not intended to exhaust all possible arrangements or features, and indeed, many other embodiments, modifications, and variations will be ascertainable to those of skill in the art.
