Patent Application
20100095571
1. Field
This patent relates to an article of apparel, specifically to a process that allows the wearer to add or remove indicia in order to count down or count up to any occasion.
2. Prior Art
Originally, any article of apparel is intended to serve two primary purposes: function and fashion. The first function of apparel is to clothe and to protect the body from the elements. Another function is fashion. Here, apparel embodies style and may follow current or past trends, with an eye towards making one appear more attractive or desirable. Recently, apparel has come to serve a third purpose: making a statement.
One example is the graphic T-shirt. Today, many graphic tees boast a statement, usually screen-printed. Some examples include: “Vote or Die,” “Everybody Loves An Italian girl,” “Trust Me I'm a Doctor,” and more. In effect, graphic tees communicate messages.
In our current digital age, interactivity is a key component to selling products. Many consumers seek products they can modify or customize. The element of interactivity extends to apparel, however, for many manufacturers this addition can be costly and time-consuming.
There have been some developments in apparel which allow wearers to change the indicia on their garments. An example might be seen on a police officer's uniform where one can interchange indicia through the use of badges backed by Velcro hook applied to the Velcro loop sewn onto the garment. This allows an officer to interchange indicia between uniforms with a specific badge. The benefit of this is that a police department saves money by providing customizable uniforms. In this example, officers can share, reuse and recycle these uniforms.
A disadvantage of this embodiment is that it allows only the communication of a single message: the specific officer's name. Also, the wearer does not have a choice in what type of badge is applied to the garment's loop.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,354,282 of Joel A. Langdon details a garment which includes a front panel having distinctively colored areas thereon with associated indicia indicating the score values of successive scores of a predetermined sports game. The shirt is divided into segments—the top part, indicated by one color, belongs to one team and the bottom part, indicated by another color, belongs to the opposing team. Each team has a lot of 20 colored loop areas with numerical figures (ranging from 1-20) that indicate the score. There are 40 colored loop areas total. There are several disadvantages here:
U.S. Pat. No. 4,354,282 focuses on the function that the shirt serves—to permit wearers to keep track of scores during a sports game. It makes no reference as to how the colored loop areas attach to the shirt.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,086,516 of LaVarr Baxter and Roy Baxter describes a coat or jacket that can be worn with detachable declarations of allegiance to a person, group or cause. Instead of buying new jackets for every sports team that one may support, he or she may interchange the pictorial presentations, insignias, logos, etc. These pictorial presentations, insignias, logos, etc. have Velcro strips around the edges on the back. These strips line up, or mate, with a congruent frame of Velcro loop on the jacket. There are several disadvantages to this embodiment:
The embodiment described in this patent application is an apparel item that allows the wearer to count down or up to any occasion directly on the apparel item by interchanging Velcro-like numbers, letters, and figures and applying them on a material that supports Velcro hook. The material, Veltex, is preferred, however, any material that supports Velcro hook can be applied to the shirt as a base for the Velcro-like numbers, letters and figures to be placed.
While we have found that Veltex is the easiest to use as it is flexible and soft, other materials can be used. The Veltex, or any other Velcro hook-supporting material, is not glued or sewn onto the garment like prior art, but it is embroidered directly onto the garment item with a fabric backing, or stabilizer, to prevent the embroidery from ripping or tearing. This method of application ensures that Veltex, or other Velcro hook-supporting material, is secure on the garment and does not irritate the body. We have found that gluing or regular stitching leaves room for the Veltex, or other loop materials, to fray, move, distort, or damage. Our process of embroidering around the Veltex is not only visually appealing, but also ensures that the likelihood of damage to the garment is minimal.
Unlike prior art, our embodiment of garment items with interchangeable indicia does not rely on the use of pictures, logos, or other pictorial insignia but rather numbers, letters and symbols. It is the combination of said interchangeable numbers along with incomplete sentence slogans that allow the wearer to communicate the countdown or count up to an occasion. While no prior art discovered in our search relies upon this combination of interchangeable numbers and incomplete sentences to communicate a message, the absence of said slogans from our embodiment do not prohibit the wearer from utilizing the garment to count.
In the drawings, closely related figures have the same number but different alphabetic suffixes.
10 t-shirt garment
11 frontal view of t-shirt
12 frame
13 Veltex, or other Velcro hook supporting fabric, patch
14 appliqué base
15 applique embroidery
16 Velcro hook backing
17 Stabilizer
18 Slogan
19 Separator
Referring to
Embodiment frame (12) in
Typically, the frame that surrounds the Veltex is two inches tall and six inches long, but this varies depending upon the shape that is used to create the embodiment. When creating the frame (12) around the Veltex, the embroidery does not have to go through the Veltex patch (13). We prefer to use extra embroidered lines, Separators (19), through the Veltex patch (13), in order to create a stylistic look similar to that of an odometer. However, not all embodiments need to have Separators (19) through patch (13). This is merely our preference.
When attaching the patch to the garment with the embroidered frame, an extra material is used to enhance the grip of the stitching. This stabilizer (17) can be of any thin, soft material such as felt, paper, cotton, and more. Stabilizer (17) acts as a backing and provides additional support while a needle secures the embroidery. Stabilizer (17) can ultimately be removed by either the manufacturer or the wearer, but our embodiment prefers to include it in order to ensure that the embroidery, or any other form of stitching, does not tear, rip, or irritate the wearer.
Appliques are typically 1.5 inches tall and 1.25 inches wide, but can vary depending on the size and style of the patch on garments. Insignia is cut into desired figures, we prefer numbers, with scissors, dye-cut or laser-cut from felt or other soft material to create the appliqué base. This appliqué base can be embellished with embroidery, stitching, printing, jewels, and more.
By using the number appliqués demonstrated in
TOTAL: 23
Each garment has a slogan, of incomplete sentence structure, beneath the patch, referencing an occasion or event the wearer is looking forward to or anticipating: The occasion can be birthdays, holidays, anniversaries, Election Days, and much, much more. We anticipate that our list of slogans will grow. Through the combination of a slogans, in conjunction with the addition or subtraction of these numerical appliqués, users can count down—or up-to any occasion, and display the message for others to see. The three-digit combination of these 23 number appliqués, in conjunction with our incomplete sentence slogans, is designed to allow the wearer to count down—or up—365 days—encompassing an entire calendar year.
As stated previously, although we prefer to pair our embodiment with the use of incomplete slogans for maximum effect, it is important to note the absence of slogans from our embodiment does not prohibit the wearer from utilizing the garment to count.
Almost everyone looks forward to or anticipates the arrival of an occasion, event or happening. We prefer to think of this action as a countdown. With our embodiment, not only can the wearer remind himself or herself of the days remaining until said occasion, event or happening, but he or she can share the excitement with others.
Combined with our fun, inspirational and mass market slogans, our process of adding and removing the numerical appliqués is not only enjoyable, but more comfortable than prior art, because it avoids the use of Velcro directly applied to the garment itself. The patch (13) is typically a softer material while stabilizer (17) adds an extra layer of protection from irritation to the skin.
Our method of counting down or up using removable insignia is also convenient because the process is non-mechanical, non-digital and non-electric, requiring only the energy of the wearer to calculate the days until their desired date.
Accordingly, the reader will see that by adding and removing the indicia from the garment the wearer can count down or up to an occasion, event or happening. Furthermore, the garment with interchangeable indicia has the additional advantages:
Although the description above contains many specificities, these should not be construed as limiting the scope of the embodiments, but as merely providing illustrations of some of the presently preferred embodiments. For example, the counting frame used to display the removable indicia can be of any material capable of mating with Velcro hook; the counting frame can have other shapes; the removable indicia can have a different backing, provided the counting frame mates with that backing, etc. Thus, the scope of the embodiments should be determined by the appended claims and their legal equivalents rather than by the examples given.
