Patent Grant
11682322
The present invention relates generally to devices and methods for assessing a laundered state of a garment.
Laundering garments such as pants, sweaters, sweatshirts, dresses, jackets, and suits either at home or commercially (e.g., dry-cleaning) is well-known to be essential for the maintenance of such garments by removing stains and killing micro-organisms that may have accumulated on such garments while being worn. Nevertheless, it is typically not necessary for garments to be laundered after each use or wear of the garment. For example, a garment may be worn by an individual during a first use or wear in which the garment is substantially unexposed to dirt, sweat, or other sources of stains and micro-organisms such that the garment may remain suitably clean for a second use or wear without requiring an intervening laundering. Thus, the individual may choose to simply return the garment to its storage location, such as a hanger, closet, drawer, and/or shelf, after the first use or wear for awaiting one or more subsequent uses or wears without laundering the garment between such uses or wears. Such practices of wearing garments multiple times before laundering them provides a significantly more sustainable alternative to unnecessarily laundering garments after each use or wear by reducing water and detergent usage. Individuals who employ such multiple-wear practices can also enjoy a corresponding cost-saving benefit from the reduction in water and detergent usage, as well as a time-saving benefit from performing the task of laundering less frequently. Moreover, less-frequent laundering of garments may avoid over-laundering such garments, which has been known to reduce the garments' useful life.
Individuals who employ multiple-wear practices typically must rely on their own memory and/or senses to determine when a garment is ready for laundering. For example, an individual may recall wearing the garment on a certain number of occasions and compare that number to the individual's preferred threshold number of wears for laundering to determine whether the garment is ready for laundering. However, this determination is dependent on the accuracy of the individual's memory, which may be unreliable particularly in cases where the garment is worn irregularly across a long period of time and/or in cases where the individual is attempting to keep track of uses of a large volume of different garments. Thus, the individual may further visually assess the garment for blemishes and/or olfactorily assess the garment for odors to determine whether the garment is ready for laundering. However, many individuals prefer to launder the garment prior to the presence of such blemishes or odors to prevent the blemishes or odors from occurring.
Accordingly, there is a need for a device for tracking wear of a garment that addresses the present challenges such as those discussed above.
While the specification concludes with claims which particularly point out and distinctly claim the invention, it is believed the present invention will be better understood from the following description of certain examples taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which like reference numerals identify the same elements and in which:
The drawings are not intended to be limiting in any way, and it is contemplated that various embodiments of the invention may be carried out in a variety of other ways, including those not necessarily depicted in the drawings. The accompanying drawings incorporated in and forming a part of the specification illustrate several aspects of the present invention, and together with the description serve to explain the principles of the invention; it being understood, however, that this invention is not limited to the precise arrangements shown.
The following description of certain examples of the invention should not be used to limit the scope of the present invention. Other examples, features, aspects, embodiments, and advantages of the invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art from the following description, which is by way of illustration, one of the best modes contemplated for carrying out the invention. As will be realized, the invention is capable of other different and obvious aspects, all without departing from the invention. Accordingly, the drawings and descriptions should be regarded as illustrative in nature and not restrictive.
It is further understood that any one or more of the teachings, expressions, versions, examples, etc. described herein may be combined with any one or more of the other teachings, expressions, versions, examples, etc. that are described herein. The following-described teachings, expressions, versions, examples, etc. should therefore not be viewed in isolation relative to each other. Various suitable ways in which the teachings herein may be combined will be readily apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art in view of the teachings herein. Such modifications and variations are intended to be included within the scope of the claims.
A. First Example of a Wear Counter
With respect to
Ring body (12) of the present example is singularly and unitarily formed, such as via an injection molding process, for example. In one example, ring body (12) is constructed of a relatively lightweight non-absorbent and/or water-proof material, such as nylon, for example. Ring body (12) of the present example also has an outer diameter large enough to enable visibility of indicia (30, 32) yet small enough to be attached to garments, even while being worn relatively unnoticed by the user. Such an outer diameter of ring body (12) in one example ranges from approximately 0.75 inches to approximately 2.0 inches and, more particularly, from approximately 1 inch to approximately 1.5 inches, such as approximately 1.125 inches, although the invention is not intended to be unnecessarily limited to such sizing. Moreover, it will be appreciated that alternative methods of manufacture other than injection molding may be used, and the invention is not intended to be unnecessarily limited to any particular manufacturing technique or construction described in the present examples.
By way of example, selective angular alignment of slide indicator (14) with a like angular position of a desired indicia, such as any of front and rear indicia (30, 32) visually communicates the desired indicia for later viewing. More particularly, the integers of front indicia (30) are configured to be radially positioned between hooked ends (52) of slide indicator (14) (see
In still another example not shown in the present figures, a ring body (not shown) may have a plurality of indicia with additional numbers on one side thereof. Such an exemplary ring may include a plurality of slide bodies, such as a first slide body and a second slide body. The first and second slide bodies may be arranged together, such as hands on a clock dial, and provide for numbers “0” to “99”. In any event, wear counter (10) provides an elegantly simple and robust solution for tracking a number of uses of an associated garment since the garment's most recent laundering. By including only two components, each of which is singularly and unitarily formed in the present example, and by being devoid of complex motors, transmissions, or other automation components or intricate moving parts, wear counter (10) may be easily and inexpensively manufactured, may be intuitively operated by the user, and even washed and dried in washer and dryer machine cycles without damaging wear counter (10). While the present example describes the use of wear counter (10) for tracking usage of garments, wear counter (10) is not intended to be unnecessarily limited to use with garment. To this end, wear counter (10) may be alternatively used more generally with any article for tracking an aspect to the article as desired by the user.
B. Second Example of a Wear Counter
Ring body (112) of the present example is singularly and unitarily formed, such as via an injection molding process, for example. In one example, ring body (112) is constructed of a relatively lightweight non-absorbent and/or water-proof material, such as nylon, for example. Ring body (112) of the present example also has an outer diameter large enough to enable visibility of indicia (130, 132) yet small enough to be attached to garments, even while being worn relatively unnoticed by the user. Such an outer diameter of ring body (12) in one example ranges from approximately 0.75 inches to approximately 2.0 inches and, more particularly, from approximately 1 inch to approximately 1.5 inches, such as approximately 1.125 inches, although the invention is not intended to be unnecessarily limited to such sizing. Moreover, it will be appreciated that alternative methods of manufacture other than injection molding may be used, and the invention is not intended to be unnecessarily limited to any particular manufacturing technique or construction described in the present examples.
Slide indicator (114) has a slide body (146) with front and rear window frames (148, 150) transversely spaced apart from each other by a gap (152) substantially equal to a thickness of ring body (112) and connected to each other by a radially outer sidewall (154). Front window frame (148) transversely, which may also be referred to herein as axially, overlies at least a portion of front side (120) and rear window frame (150) transversely overlies at least a portion of rear side (122). In this regard, front and rear window frames (148, 150) are resiliently biased toward each other to frictionally engage and sandwich ring body (112) therebetween to assist in retaining slide body (146) on ring body (112). At least one of front and rear window frame (148, 150) include a catch prong (156) extending transversely to assist in preventing slide body (146) from being inadvertently dislodged from ring body (112), thereby capturing slide body (146) on ring body (112) while allowing for slidable movement of slide body (146) thereon. As shown, front and rear window frames (148, 150) define front and rear viewing apertures (158, 160), respectively, for allowing the user to observe a corresponding underlying front and/or rear indicia (130, 132) when slide body (146) is angularly aligned therewith. Slide indicator (114) of the present example is singularly and unitarily formed, such as via an injection molding process, for example. In one example, slide indicator (114) is constructed of a relatively lightweight non-absorbent and/or water-proof material, such as nylon, for example. Slide indicator (114) of the present example is also sized such that each of front and rear viewing apertures (158, 160) is configured to fully visually capture a single front or rear indicia (130, 132) when slide indicator (114) is angularly aligned therewith while excluding (at least partially) each of the remaining front and rear indicia (130, 132).
Slide indicator (114) is configured to be manually gripped and manipulated by the user to orbit about the central axis (38) of ring body (112) along the front and rear sides (120, 122) into selective angular alignment with each of the indicia (130, 132). When slide indicator (114) is angularly aligned with a selected front indicia (130) on front side (120), the selected front indicia (130) is observable through front viewing aperture (158). Similarly, when slide indicator (114) is angularly aligned with a selected rear indicia (132) on rear side (122), the selected rear indicia (132) is observable through rear viewing aperture (160). Due to the angular offset of front indicia (130) from rear indicia (132), slide indicator (114) is angularly alignable with either one of front indicia (130) or one of rear indicia (132), and is not simultaneously alignable with both one of front indicia (130) and rear indicia (132). Due to the sizing of front and rear viewing apertures (158, 160) relative to front and rear indicia (130, 132), only a single front or rear indicia (130, 132) is fully observable through one of front or rear viewing apertures (158, 160) when slide indicator (114) is at any given angular position. For example, slide indicator (114) is in a same angular position relative to ring body (112) in both
Like slide indicator (14) (see
In the example shown, slide indicator (114) is selectively movable between 16 discrete angular positions relative to ring body (112), including eight angular positions in which slide indicator (114) is radially alignable with any of front indicia (130) provided on front side (120) such that a selected integer from “0” to “7,” inclusive, is observable through front viewing aperture (158), and eight angular positions in which slide indicator (114) is angularly alignable with any of rear indicia (132) provided on rear side (122) such that a selected integer from “8” to “15,” inclusive, is observable through rear aperture (160). In this manner, the angular position of slide indicator (114) relative to ring body (112) is selectable to provide a visual indication that an associated garment has experienced any of between 0 to 15 uses since the garment's most recent laundering.
It will be appreciated that ring body (112) may include any suitable alternative number and/or arrangement of indicia (130, 132). For example, more or less of front and/or rear indicia (130, 132) may be provided to enable visual indications of more or less uses since an associated garment's most recent laundering. In one example, rear indicia (132) may be omitted such that only front indicia (130) are provided. In such cases, rear viewing aperture (160) may be omitted such that rear window frame (150) may comprise a solid panel.
In still another example not shown in the present figures, a ring body (not shown) may have a plurality of indicia with additional numbers on one side thereof. Such an exemplary ring body may include a plurality of slide indicators, such as a first slide indicator and a second slide indicator. The first and second slide bodies may be arranged together, such as hands on a clock dial, and provide for numbers “0” to “99”. In any event, wear counter (110), like wear counter (10) discussed above, provides an elegantly simple and robust solution for tracking a number of uses of an associated garment since the garment's most recent laundering. By including only two components, each of which is singularly and unitarily formed in the present example, and by being devoid of complex motors, transmissions, or other automation components or intricate moving parts, wear counter (110) may be easily and inexpensively manufactured, may be intuitively operated by the user, and even washed and dried in washer and dryer machine cycles without damaging wear counter (110). While the present example describes the use of wear counter (110) for tracking usage of garments, wear counter (110) is not intended to be unnecessarily limited to use with garment. To this end, wear counter (110) may be alternatively used more generally with any article for tracking an aspect to the article as desired by the user.
Referring now to
As shown in
In some cases, the user may choose to perform an unscheduled laundering of pants (e.g., prior to reaching the user's desired threshold), such as after a wear in which pants were exposed to a particularly high degree of dirt, sweat, or other sources of stains and micro-organisms. In such cases, the user may perform such an unscheduled laundering of pants, place pants on hanger (H), and manually reset the angular position of slide indicator (14) relative to ring body (12) to select the integer “0” prior to any wears of pants following the unscheduled laundering to indicate that pants have not experienced any wears since pants were most recently laundered, thereby maintaining the tracking cycle.
As shown in
After each wear of sweater (S), the user may re-clip wear counter (10) to sweater (S) and incrementally adjust the angular position of slide indicator (14) relative to ring body (12) to select an integer from “0” to “9,” inclusive, corresponding to the number of wears of sweater (S) since sweater (S) was most recently laundered, in a manner similar to that described above with regard to pants in connection with
As shown in
After each wear of jeans (J), the user may incrementally adjust the angular position of slide indicator (14) relative to ring body (12) to select an integer from “0” to “9,” inclusive, corresponding to the number of wears of jeans (J) since jeans (J) were most recently laundered, in a manner similar to that described above with regard to pants in connection with
While wear counter (10) is described herein as being used to track a number of wears of an associated garment since the garment's most recent laundering by “counting up”, it will be appreciated that wear counter (10) may be used in an inverse manner to track a remaining number of wears of the garment before the garment's next desired laundering. In other words, the wear counter (10) may be used to provide a visual “countdown” by incrementally decreasing the selected integer after each wear of the associated garment until the selected integer is “0,” thereby indicating that the garment is ready for laundering. Similarly, the above description of counting up and the countdown may apply to tracking the calendar days of the week with respect to the letters of rear indicia (32). The invention is thus not intended to be unnecessarily limited to a particular form of tracking such that the user may incorporate additional or alternative methods of tracking use as desired from garment to garment.
The following examples relate to various non-exhaustive ways in which the teachings herein may be combined or applied. It should be understood that the following examples are not intended to restrict the coverage of any claims that may be presented at any time in this application or in subsequent filings of this application. No disclaimer is intended. The following examples are being provided for nothing more than merely illustrative purposes. It is contemplated that the various teachings herein may be arranged and applied in numerous other ways. It is also contemplated that some variations may omit certain features referred to in the below examples. Therefore, none of the aspects or features referred to below should be deemed critical unless otherwise explicitly indicated as such at a later date by the inventors or by a successor in interest to the inventors. If any claims are presented in this application or in subsequent filings related to this application that include additional features beyond those referred to below, those additional features shall not be presumed to have been added for any reason relating to patentability.
A method of tracking wear of a garment with a device, the device including a counter body and an indicator, the counter body having a first indicia and a second indicia thereon, the indicator movably connected to the counter body and configured to be selectively positioned relative to each of the first indicia and the second indicia for selectively aligning the indicator relative to the first indicia or the second indicia, wherein the first indicia is different than the second indicia such that the indicator in alignment with the first indicia is configured to communicate a first wear state of the garment to a user and the indicator in alignment with the second indicia is configured to communicate a second wear state of the garment to the user, the method comprising: selectively moving the indicator into alignment with the first indicia thereby tracking the first wear state of the garment.
The method of Example 1, further comprising selectively moving the indicator from alignment with the first indicia into alignment with the second indicia thereby tracking the second wear state of the garment.
The method of any one or more of Example 1 through Example 2, further comprising communicating the first wear state of the garment to the user.
The method of any one or more of Example 1 through Example 3, further comprising associating the device with the garment.
The method of Example 4, wherein associating the device with the garment further includes securing the device relative to the garment.
The method of Example 5, wherein securing the device relative to the garment further includes attaching the device to the garment.
The method of Example 6, further comprising simultaneously laundering the garment and the device.
The method of Example 6, further comprising: removing the device from the garment; and laundering the garment without the device.
The method of Example 4, wherein associating the device with the garment further includes attaching the device to a structure configured to support the garment thereon.
The method of Example 9, wherein the structure is a hangar configured to receive the garment thereon for storage.
The method of any one or more of Example 1 through Example 10, wherein the counter body is a counter ring body having an annular shape, and wherein selectively moving the indicator of the device into alignment with the first indicia further includes sliding the indicator about a central axis defined by the counter ring body into alignment with the first indicia.
The method of Example 11, further comprising receiving the first indicia between at least two portions of the indicator such that the first indicia remains uncovered by the indicator when aligned with the first indicia.
The method of Example 11, further comprising receiving the first indicia against at least a portion of the indicator such that at least a portion of the first indicia is covered by the indicator when aligned with the first indicia.
The method of any one or more of Example 1 through Example 13, wherein the first wear state is a less worn state of garment wear by the user, and wherein the second wear state is a more worn state of garment wear by the user.
The method of any one or more of Example 1 through Example 14, wherein the counter body is singularly and unitarily formed, and wherein the indicator is singularly and unitarily formed.
The method of Example 15, wherein the device includes only the counter body and the indicator.
A device for tracking wear of a garment, comprising: a counter body having a first indicia and a second indicia thereon, wherein the counter body is singularly and unitarily formed; and an indicator movably connected to the counter body and configured to be selectively positioned relative to each of the first indicia and the second indicia for selectively aligning the indicator relative to the first indicia or the second indicia, wherein the indicator is singularly and unitarily formed, wherein the first indicia is different than the second indicia such that the indicator in alignment with the first indicia is configured to communicate a first wear state of the garment to a user and the indicator in alignment with the second indicia is configured to communicate a second wear state of the garment to the user.
A device for tracking wear of a garment, comprising: an annular counter ring body, including: a first side having a first plurality of indicia thereon, wherein the first plurality of indicia includes a first indicia and a second indicia, and an opening about a central axis, wherein the first plurality of indicia on the first side are angularly positioned about the opening; and an indicator slidably connected to the annular counter ring body and configured to be selectively and angularly positioned about the central axis relative to each of the first indicia and the second indicia for selectively aligning the indicator relative to the first indicia or the second indicia, wherein the first indicia is different than the second indicia such that the indicator in alignment with the first indicia is configured to communicate a first wear state of the garment to a user and the indicator in alignment with the second indicia is configured to communicate a second wear state of the garment to the user.
The device of Example 18, wherein the indicator includes a slide body having a base and a pair of resilient catch arms, wherein each of the pair of resilient catch arms extends from the base capturing the indicator to the annular counter ring body while allowing for selective movement of the indicator relative to the annular counter ring body.
The device of any one or more of Example 18 through Example 19, wherein the annular counter ring body is singularly and unitarily formed, and wherein the indicator is singularly and unitarily formed.
A wear counter, comprising: a ring including a first side having a plurality of first indicia arranged with uniform circumferential spacing about a central axis of the ring; and a slide including a first window frame defining a first aperture, wherein the slide is slidably coupled with the ring such that the slide is selectively angularly alignable with each of the first indicia, wherein each of the first indicia is observable through the first aperture when angularly aligned with the slide.
The wear counter of Example 21, wherein the ring includes a second side having a plurality of second indicia arranged with uniform circumferential spacing about the central axis of the ring, wherein the slide includes a second window frame defining a second aperture, wherein the slide is selectively angularly alignable with each of the second indicia, wherein each of the second indicia is observable through the second aperture when angularly aligned with the slide.
The wear counter of any one or more of Example 21 through Example 22, wherein the plurality of first indicia are angularly offset from the plurality of second indicia relative to the central axis of the ring.
The wear counter of any one or more of Example 21 through Example 23, wherein at least one of the ring or the slide is singularly and unitarily formed.
The wear counter of any one or more of Example 21 through Example 24, wherein at least one of the ring or the slide is constructed of a material that is at least one of non-absorbent or waterproof.
The wear counter of any one or more of Example 21 through Example 25, wherein each of the first indicia includes an integer.
The wear counter of Example 26, wherein the integers increase incrementally in at least one of a clockwise or a counterclockwise direction.
The wear counter of Example 26, wherein a lowest integer of the integers is 0.
The wear counter of any one or more of Example 21 through Example 28, wherein the slide is configured to be manually slid by a user relative to the ring.
The wear counter of any one or more of Example 21 through Example 29, wherein the slide is configured to frictionally engage the ring to selectively secure an angular position of the slide relative to the ring.
It should be understood that any of the examples described herein may include various other features in addition to or in lieu of those described above. By way of example only, any of the examples described herein may also include one or more of the various features disclosed in any of the various references that are incorporated by reference herein.
It should be understood that any one or more of the teachings, expressions, embodiments, examples, etc. described herein may be combined with any one or more of the other teachings, expressions, embodiments, examples, etc. that are described herein. The above-described teachings, expressions, embodiments, examples, etc. should therefore not be viewed in isolation relative to each other. Various suitable ways in which the teachings herein may be combined will be readily apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art in view of the teachings herein. Such modifications and variations are intended to be included within the scope of the claims.
It should be appreciated that any patent, publication, or other disclosure material, in whole or in part, that is said to be incorporated by reference herein is incorporated herein only to the extent that the incorporated material does not conflict with existing definitions, statements, or other disclosure material set forth in this disclosure. As such, and to the extent necessary, the disclosure as explicitly set forth herein supersedes any conflicting material incorporated herein by reference. Any material, or portion thereof, that is said to be incorporated by reference herein, but which conflicts with existing definitions, statements, or other disclosure material set forth herein will only be incorporated to the extent that no conflict arises between that incorporated material and the existing disclosure material.
Having shown and described various versions of the present invention, further adaptations of the methods and systems described herein may be accomplished by appropriate modifications by one of ordinary skill in the art without departing from the scope of the present invention. Several of such potential modifications have been mentioned, and others will be apparent to those skilled in the art. For instance, the examples, versions, geometrics, materials, dimensions, ratios, steps, and the like discussed above are illustrative and are not required. Accordingly, the scope of the present invention should be considered in terms of the following claims and is understood not to be limited to the details of structure and operation shown and described in the specification and drawings.
This application claims priority to U.S. Pat. App. No. 63/023,305, filed on May 12, 2020, entitled “Device for Tracking Wear of a Garment,” which is hereby incorporated by reference herein in its entirety.
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| Number | Date | Country | |
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