Patent Application
20230085609
Not Applicable
Not Applicable
Not Applicable
Not Applicable
Not Applicable
The disclosure relates to stretching devices and more particularly pertains to a new stretching device for stretching a shirt sleeve or a pant leg. The device includes a clip that is attachable to a cuff of a shirt sleeve or a cuff of a pant leg. The device includes a pair of first weights that are integrated into the clip to stretch the shirt sleeve or pant leg. In this way the shirt sleeve or the pant leg can be stretched to their original length due to shrinkage from drying. A plurality of second weights is provided and a selected number of the second weights can be attached to the first weights for increasing the total weight of the clip.
The prior art relates to stretching devices including a variety of weighted clamp devices that is attachable to laundry on a clothes line to inhibit the laundry from being wind whipped. The prior art discloses a laundry stretcher that includes a pair of clamps that are biased apart from each other and which can be attached to opposite ends of a garment for stretching the garment. The prior art discloses a weighted clothes pin for inhibiting laundry on a clothes line from being wind whipped. The prior art discloses a clothes stretcher that includes magnetized weights that engage an article of clothing on a clothes hanger for stretching wrinkles of the article of clothing.
An embodiment of the disclosure meets the needs presented above by generally comprising a clip that includes a first wing that compresses against a second wing. The clip can be suspended from a cuff of a shirt sleeve or a cuff of a pant leg. A pair of first weights is each integrated into a respective one of the first wing and the second wing to stretch the shirt sleeve or the pant leg when the clip is attached to the shirt sleeve or the pant leg. A plurality of second weights is provided and respective ones of the second weights is releasably attachable to a respective one of the first weights for increasing the weight of the clip.
There has thus been outlined, rather broadly, the more important features of the disclosure in order that the detailed description thereof that follows may be better understood, and in order that the present contribution to the art may be better appreciated. There are additional features of the disclosure that will be described hereinafter and which will form the subject matter of the claims appended hereto.
The objects of the disclosure, along with the various features of novelty which characterize the disclosure, are pointed out with particularity in the claims annexed to and forming a part of this disclosure.
The disclosure will be better understood and objects other than those set forth above will become apparent when consideration is given to the following detailed description thereof. Such description makes reference to the annexed drawings wherein:
With reference now to the drawings, and in particular to
As best illustrated in
Each of the first wing 14 and the second wing 16 comprise a panel portion 26 and a grip portion 28 extending away from the panel portion 26. The panel portion 26 has a first surface 30, a second surface 32 and a rear edge 34, and the grip portion 28 extends away from the rear edge 34. The grip portion 28 has a first lateral edge 36, a second lateral edge 38 and a distal edge 40 with respect to the rear edge 34 of the panel portion 26. Each of the first lateral edge 36 and the second lateral edge 38 angles outwardly between the rear edge 34 and the distal edge 40. The grip portion 28 has a first surface 42 lying on a plane that is oriented co-planar with the first surface 30 of the panel portion 26. Additionally, the first surface 42 of the grip portion 28 is textured to enhance gripping the first surface 42 of the grip portion 28.
The second surface 32 of the panel portion 26 of each of the wings has a hinge point 44 that is integrated into the second surface 32 of the panel portion 26. The hinge point 44 associated with each the first wing 14 and the second wing 16 is positioned adjacent to the rear edge 34 of the panel portion 26. Furthermore, the hinge point 44 associated with the first wing 14 hingedly engages the hinge point 44 associated with the second wing 16. A biasing member 46 is coupled to each of the first wing 14 and the second wing 16 to bias the first wing 14 to compress against the second wing 16. The biasing member 46 is integrated into the hinge point 44 associated with each of the first wing 14 and the second wing 16. Additionally, the biasing member 46 may comprise a spring or the like.
A pair of first weights 48 is each integrated into a respective one of the first wing 14 and the second wing 16. In this way the first weights 48 facilitate the clip 12 to stretch the shirt sleeve 20 or the pant leg 24 when the clip 12 is attached to the shirt sleeve 20 or the pant leg 24. Thus, shirt sleeves 20 or pant legs 24 that typically shrink from drying can be stretched back out to their original length. Each of the first weights 48 is integrated into the first surface 30 of the panel portion 26 of the respective first wing 14 or the second wing 16. Additionally, each of the first weights 48 has an exposed surface 50 with respect to the first surface 30 of the panel portion 26 of the respective first wing 14 and the second wing 16.
A plurality of second weights 52 is provided and respective ones of the second weights 52 are releasably attachable to a respective one of the first weights 48. In this way the weight of the clip 12 can be increased in order to fully stretch the shirt sleeve 20 or the pant leg 24 when the weight of the first weights 48 is not enough. Each of the second weights 52 has a coupling surface 54 and the coupling surface 54 of each of the second weights 52 engages the exposed surface 50 of the respective first weight. As is most clearly shown in
In use, the clip 12 is attached to the cuff 18 of the shirt sleeve 20 or the cuff 22 of the pant leg 24. In this way the first weights 48, and whatever number of second weights 52 is added to the first weights 48, can stretch the shirt sleeve 20 or the pant leg 24. Thus, the shirt sleeve 20 or the pant leg 24 can be lengthened to their original length after laundering. A selected number of the second weights 52 can be added to the first weights 48 to increase the total weight of the clip 12 to a sufficient weight to stretch the shirt sleeve 20 or the pant leg 24.
With respect to the above description then, it is to be realized that the optimum dimensional relationships for the parts of an embodiment enabled by the disclosure, to include variations in size, materials, shape, form, function and manner of operation, assembly and use, are deemed readily apparent and obvious to one skilled in the art, and all equivalent relationships to those illustrated in the drawings and described in the specification are intended to be encompassed by an embodiment of the disclosure.
Therefore, the foregoing is considered as illustrative only of the principles of the disclosure. Further, since numerous modifications and changes will readily occur to those skilled in the art, it is not desired to limit the disclosure to the exact construction and operation shown and described, and accordingly, all suitable modifications and equivalents may be resorted to, falling within the scope of the disclosure. In this patent document, the word “comprising” is used in its non-limiting sense to mean that items following the word are included, but items not specifically mentioned are not excluded. A reference to an element by the indefinite article “a” does not exclude the possibility that more than one of the element is present, unless the context clearly requires that there be only one of the elements.
