Patent Application
20180049487
The present application relates generally to protective clothing, and in particular to a disposable bib.
Fast food drive-through has topped 30 million buyers per day. Drive-through business accounts for 50-70% of a fast food establishment's revenue. Ketchup, mustard, grease and mayo are all common fast food elements that cause clothing stains.
Vehicle operators who eat while they drive use various methods to prevent food from falling on their clothes. One method spreads out the food wrapper, directing the sides upward to catch food. This may be done over a lap or across a portion of a vehicle. Another method relies on a bib used by the driver. In either case, the disadvantages are aplenty.
With the wrapper, the driver hunches over the wrapper while they eat. This act tends to distract the driver while driving, and during eating by having to ensure the food falls onto the wrapper. A further disadvantage is that wrappers are not secured in any way. They frequently slide or move at the slightest contact making it more difficult to ensure it stays where expected. Additionally, the upward directed sides frequently flex or fall when impacted by food making them less effective. Furthermore, wrappers are particularly located on the lap or away from the upper torso of a user. This means that blouses and shirts are fully exposed to falling food whether the wrapper works as planned or not.
One solution to food falling on clothes is wearing a bib. Existing bib designs generally require the inconvenience of tying bib strings behind the neck. A vehicle seat's headrest, positioned directly behind the user's head makes tying bib strings at the back of the neck difficult. Bib strings that tie around the back are also inconvenient in the cramped vehicle environment, as one does not have much room to tie a knot or link a fastener. The diminished range of arm motion due to age, arthritis or disability makes the task even more tedious. Bibs have been made to tuck into clothing in order to avoid the pitfalls of ties around the neck. However, tucking bibs into a shirt or blouse collar is a problem with V-neck and plunge cut clothing.
Additionally, conventional bibs are generally one size to fit all customers. This generally protects the torso in limited areas and tends to leave the lap exposed. A bib that is long enough to cover a lap, tends to drape and fall between the legs, defeating its purpose as it fails to catch and contain food particles. Likewise, they are difficult to handle and are heavier around the neck and clothing.
Although bibs have been improved, considerable shortcomings remain. Bibs are generally non-disposable, cannot be adjusted for length or shape and only fasten to the neck. The need exists for bibs that are well suited for traveling, bibs that: 1) can be secured to the user in a plurality of body locations, 2) permit custom contours and positions, and 3) are disposable.
The novel features believed characteristic of the application are set forth in the appended claims. However, the application itself, as well as a preferred mode of use, and further objectives and advantages thereof, will best be understood by reference to the following detailed description when read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, wherein:
While the assembly and method of the present application is susceptible to various modifications and alternative forms, specific embodiments thereof have been shown by way of example in the drawings and are herein described in detail. It should be understood, however, that the description herein of specific embodiments is not intended to limit the application to the particular embodiment disclosed, but on the contrary, the intention is to cover all modifications, equivalents, and alternatives falling within the spirit and scope of the process of the present application as defined by the appended claims.
Illustrative embodiments of the preferred embodiment are described below. In the interest of clarity, not all features of an actual implementation are described in this specification. It will of course be appreciated that in the development of any such actual embodiment, numerous implementation-specific decisions must be made to achieve the developer's specific goals, such as compliance with system-related and business-related constraints, which will vary from one implementation to another. Moreover, it will be appreciated that such a development effort might be complex and time-consuming but would nevertheless be a routine undertaking for those of ordinary skill in the art having the benefit of this disclosure.
In the specification, reference may be made to the spatial relationships between various components and to the spatial orientation of various aspects of components as the devices are depicted in the attached drawings. However, as will be recognized by those skilled in the art after a complete reading of the present application, the devices, members, apparatuses, etc. described herein may be positioned in any desired orientation. Thus, the use of terms to describe a spatial relationship between various components or to describe the spatial orientation of aspects of such components should be understood to describe a relative relationship between the components or a spatial orientation of aspects of such components, respectively, as the device described herein may be oriented in any desired direction.
The system and method in accordance with the present application overcomes one or more of the above-discussed problems commonly associated with conventional bib systems. It is desired that a bib system be developed which is convenient to put on and remove while seated in a vehicle, protects clothing and catches food that drops while eating. The system and method secures the bib to the user in a variety of locations, permits the user to contour and shape the bib as needed to protect the user's clothes and is disposable. These and other unique features of the system and method are discussed below and illustrated in the accompanying drawings.
The system and method will be understood, both as to its structure and operation, from the accompanying drawings, taken in conjunction with the accompanying description. Several embodiments of the assembly are presented herein. It should be understood that various components, parts, and features of the different embodiments may be combined together and/or interchanged with one another, all of which are within the scope of the present application, even though not all variations and particular embodiments are shown in the drawings. It should also be understood that the mixing and matching of features, elements, and/or functions between various embodiments is expressly contemplated herein so that one of ordinary skill in the art would appreciate from this disclosure that the features, elements, and/or functions of one embodiment may be incorporated into another embodiment as appropriate, unless otherwise described.
Referring now to the drawings wherein like reference characters identify corresponding or similar elements in form and function throughout the several views.
System 101 comprises a neckpiece 103, a flexible material 105, and a plurality of tabs 107a and 107b. Neckpiece 103 holds flexible material 105 under the chin of the user. A gap 109 in the neckpiece allows the neckpiece 103 to flex for placement around the neck of the user. Neckpiece 103 is generally made of paperboard, which may be laminated to enhance durability. Alternatively, neckpiece 103 may also be made of other materials, for example, plastic or material with a wire frame.
Flexible material 105, adjacent to a proximal end 111, couples to neckpiece 103 and is configured to cover a portion of the user's anterior torso and legs. Flexible material 105 protects the user from food spills, allowing the user to fold and contour flexible material 105 for best protection. An example of flexible material 105 is an absorbent non-woven fabric. Another example of flexible material 105 may include a woven, absorbent fabric backed a with non-absorbent layer to prevent food soaking through. A plurality of layers may be used to both prevent the liquids from soaking through, but also prevent liquids from coming into contact with shirt or blouse sleeves.
The plurality of tabs 107, coupled to flexible material 105 and adjacent to a distal end 113, are configured to open up from the bib's front surface and selectively extend laterally out to couple to the user using an adhesive applied to tabs 107. When extended laterally out, the adhesive is facing forward away from the user. The adhesive is used to permit for the repeated securing and releasing of flexible material 105 to the user.
Referring now also to
Referring now to
In other embodiments, neckpiece 103 may be releasingly coupled to material 105 utilizing one or more fasteners 205, which are seen in
The current application has many advantages over the prior art including at least the following: 1) the bib can be secured to the user in a plurality of body locations, 2) permitting custom contours and positions to enhance the protection of users clothing, and 3) the bibs are disposable.
The particular embodiments disclosed above are illustrative only, as the application may be modified and practiced in different but equivalent manners apparent to those skilled in the art having the benefit of the teachings herein. It is therefore evident that the particular embodiments disclosed above may be altered or modified, and all such variations are considered within the scope and spirit of the application. Accordingly, the protection sought herein is as set forth in the description. It is apparent that an application with significant advantages has been described and illustrated. Although the present application is shown in a limited number of forms, it is not limited to just these forms, but is amenable to various changes and modifications without departing from the spirit thereof.
