Patent Grant
9872522
This patent document contains material subject to copyright protection. The copyright owner has no objection to the reproduction of this patent document or any related materials in the files of the United States Patent and Trademark Office, but otherwise reserves all copyrights whatsoever.
This invention relates to garments and garment manufacture. More particularly, this invention relates to shirts and expandable shirt collars.
Shirts, especially men's dress shirts, are typically sized based on collar circumference and sleeve length. Some shirts, especially men's dress shirts are generally sized to be worn with the collar closed (e.g., buttoned), and so any shrinkage in the collar will adversely affect the wearer. Unfortunately the fabrics used for most dress shirts is subject to shrinkage from laundering, and so most dress shirts may become difficult or uncomfortable to wear after multiple washes. In addition, the wearer of a shirt may gain weight, thereby increasing their neck size and making their dress shirts difficult to close at the neck.
It is desirable to provide a shirt collar stand that expands, as needed, while keeping its shape, and for it to return to its original length. It is further desirable to provide a shirt collar stand with little or no shrinkage. It is also desirable to provide a shirt collar stand that flexes when worn to eliminate the puckering where it joins the back yoke. It is further desirable to provide a shirt with such a collar stand.
Various other objects, features and attendant advantages of the present invention will become fully appreciated as the same becomes better understood when considered in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which like reference characters designate the same or similar parts throughout the several views, and wherein:
With reference now to
For the purposes of this description, the length of the collar stand 12 is the horizontal dimension in the drawings, and the width of the collar stand is the vertical dimension. A collar stand need not have the same width across its length (i.e., it may be wider at some points than at others). Similarly, a collar stand need not have the same length across its width (i.e., it may be longer at some points than at others). For example, with reference to
The inner and outer pieces 22, 24 of the collar stand 12 may each be formed by fusing together a self-fabric with a two-way fusible substrate. A two-way fusible substrate is a fusible substrate that provides stretch and recovery in two directions, typically, but not necessarily, vertical to each other. In preferred embodiments the two-way fusible substrate has greater stretch in the horizontal or length direction thereof, preferably about 90% horizontal stretch, with the other direction of stretch being about 10%.
The self-fabric used to form the inner and outer pieces 22, 24 may be any general shirting fabric, including cotton, poly-cotton, linen, etc. The self-fabric may, but need not be, the same fabric as the shirt.
The self-fabric used to form the pieces 22, 24 may be cut in any way, including, e.g., along its length, breadth, or on a bias.
The self-fabric used to form the pieces 22, 24 may initially be with or without stretch (e.g., a compacted woven or compacted knit material).
In some embodiments, the pieces of the collar stand (i.e., the inner and outer pieces 22, 24) may be formed by first compacting the underlying self-fabric to give it stretch properties, and then combining the compacted underlying self-fabric with the two-way fusible substrate (to control and give memory to the stretch imposed by the compaction). As should be appreciated, the underlying self-fabric has the capacity to extend, and that the extension and recovery is affected by the fusible substrate.
As noted above, the bottom of the collar stand 12 is attached to the shirt body 14, e.g., along the line X-X′ (
With reference to
The inner and outer pieces 22, 24 of the collar stand 12 are preferably formed from fabric having stretch and recovery in two directions. Preferably, the collar stand 12 has stretch and recovery in a substantially horizontal direction, substantially parallel to the bottom of the collar stand, thereby to the top of the shirt. The collar stand also preferably has stretch and recovery in a substantially vertical direction, substantially vertical to the bottom of the collar stand, thereby to the top of the shirt.
To attach the collar stand 12 to the shirt body 14, a top portion of the shirt body 14 is positioned between the inner and outer pieces 22, 24 of the collar stand 12 and the pieces are stitched together. The width (W2) of the shirt portion of the collar 20 that is positioned between the inner and outer pieces of the collar stand is preferably about ⅛ inch to ¼ inch.
It should be appreciated that the width W1 should be sufficient to maintain the collar 20 in the collar stand 12 without taking up too much space in the collar stand 12. Similarly, the width W2 should be sufficient to maintain the collar stand 12 connected to the shirt body, also without taking up too much space in the collar stand 12.
With reference to
As noted, the inner and outer pieces 22, 24 of the collar stand 12 are not necessarily parallel, and so the widths W1 and W2, and the width W3 may not be the same across the entire collar stand 12.
As noted, in preferred embodiments hereof, the collar 20, or at least the lower portion of the collar 20 that is attached to the collar stand 12, is substantially rigid. In some preferred embodiments, e.g., for dress shirts and the like, the entire collar 20 is substantially rigid. The shirt body is generally not rigid, and therefore the bottom of the collar stand 12 can grow/expand larger than the top. A collar stand that is about 15% compacted will match the stretch of the attached shirt and may also match the stretch of a stretch shirt.
The combined collar and collar stand described herein provides numerous advantages over prior approaches. Since the collar stand has been compacted, it will not shrink as much as a non-compacted collar. However, when the collar stand does expand, it will return substantially to its original length.
As described above, the collar stand 12 is connected to the shirt body 14. As understood by those of ordinary skill in the art, the collar stand 12 is connected to different parts of the shirt body 14. In the back of the shirt, the collar stand 12 is typically connected to the shirt's yoke or to a back panel of the shirt. The collar stand described herein reduces puckering at the connection of the collar stand to the shirt.
This puckering usually happens as a result of shrinkage in opposite directions or stretch in opposite directions giving an uneven appearance after washing, or by incorrect sewing tension used when joining the collar stand to the shirt (e.g., to the shirt's yoke).
With the collar stand being able to move in two directions, it enables the collar stand to remain flat or greatly reduce the puckering that normally occurs, especially when the fabric has to curve all around the neck.
Thus is described a shirt collar stand that expands, as needed, while keeping its shape, and which returns substantially to its original length. The described shirt collar stand has little or no shrinkage, and flexes when worn to eliminate puckering where it joins the back yoke of the shirt.
Where a process is described herein, those of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate that the process may operate without any user intervention. In another embodiment, the process includes some human intervention (e.g., a step is performed by or with the assistance of a human).
As used in this description, the term “portion” means some or all. So, for example, “A portion of P” may include some of “P” or all of “P”. In the context of a conversation, the term “portion” means some or all of the conversation.
As used herein, including in the claims, the phrase “at least some” means “one or more,” and includes the case of only one. Thus, e.g., the phrase “at least some ABCs” means “one or more ABCs”, and includes the case of only one ABC.
As used herein, including in the claims, the phrase “using” means “using at least,” and is not exclusive. Thus, e.g., the phrase “using Z” means “using at least Z.” Unless specifically stated by use of the word “only”, the phrase “using Z” does not mean “using only Z.”
In general, as used herein, including in the claims, unless the word “only” is specifically used in a phrase, it should not be read into that phrase.
As used herein, including in the claims, the phrase “distinct” means “at least partially distinct.” Unless specifically stated, distinct does not mean fully distinct. Thus, e.g., the phrase, “X is distinct from Y” means “X is at least partially distinct from Y,” and does not mean “X is fully distinct from Y.” Thus, as used herein, including in the claims, the phrase “X is distinct from Y” means that X differs from Y in at least some way.
It should be appreciated that the words “first” and “second” in the description and claims are used to distinguish or identify, and not to show a serial or numerical limitation. Similarly, the use of letter or numerical labels (such as “(a)”, “(b)”, and the like) are used to help distinguish and/or identify, and not to show any serial or numerical limitation or ordering.
While the invention has been described in connection with what is presently considered to be the most practical and preferred embodiments, it is to be understood that the invention is not to be limited to the disclosed embodiment, but on the contrary, is intended to cover various modifications and equivalent arrangements included within the spirit and scope of the appended claims.
This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 15/250,688, filed Aug. 29, 2016 and titled “Expandable and Flexible Shirt Collar Stand and Shirt with Same,” which claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 62/301,075, filed Feb. 29, 2016, the entire contents of both of which are hereby fully incorporated herein by reference for all purposes. This application is also a continuation of PCT/US2017/16090 filed on Feb. 1, 2017, which also claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 62/301,075.
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| WIPO, Written Opinion of the International Searching Authority, PCT/US2017/016090, (International Search Authority, Israel Patent Office) May 10, 2017. |
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| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 20170367412 A1 | Dec 2017 | US |
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 62301075 | Feb 2016 | US |
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Parent | 15250688 | Aug 2016 | US |
| Child | 15698463 | US | |
| Parent | PCT/US2017/016090 | Feb 2017 | US |
| Child | 15250688 | US |
