Patent Application
20190289944
Traditionally, consumers have occasion to wear ornamental garments. For example, spectators at sporting events often wear garments intended to depict their support for their team. Usually these garments take the form of sweaters or shirts which are exact or near exact replicas of the uniforms of the teams but sometimes show indications of team support, such as by inclusion of colors, logos, or a naming convention.
Sometimes, these garments can be add-ons to a wardrobe, such as an oversized hand in team colors. However, there is an unmet need for an overlay garment, such as in the form of a mask, where the mask is a head or face covering which is concurrently a replication or characterization of an object, animal, or even event, that is, for example, an ornamental mask that is merely indicative of a sports team, such as a mask in the colors of the team, where the mask may be a characterization depicting the nickname of the team, such as an animal name, and where the mask or other garment is specialized, highly visible, and recognizable as supporting a team, yet lightweight, and easy and inexpensive to manufacture. Such a mask is preferably three dimensional when worn, including attributes extending from a person. Also, there is a further unmet need for a mask or head covering, where the mask or head covering takes the form of an animal, object, or person, real or fictional, in actual representation or fanciful characterization, where such a mask or head covering is lightweight, three dimensional, adjustable, ventilated, and including one or more openings for visibility of the wearer, among other attributes.
The present invention meets these needs by being directed to an ornamental mask and the making of an ornamental mask. More generally, the present invention can be directed to a garment and the manufacture of the garment, whether it be for a mask, a costume, or some other garment. The mask of the present invention can be directed to a representation of a sports team, a particular athlete, an animal, a real or fictional person, a characterization of a person or thing, or an object, as examples. Although the present invention is generally directed to a garment, for ease of discussion we will refer to the garment herein as a “mask”.
In specifics, the present invention is directed to a mask formed from at least one but possibly from a plurality of articles, each of the articles interconnectable with the other articles without the benefit of separate attaching devices and arranged in such a way that the result is a single garment. The single garment provides a visual indication of a team or support of the team, and may be at least one of an animal, real or fictional character, logo, etc. In general, all of the articles are made from the same or similar lightweight material. Each of the articles may separately be manufactured and/or cut from one or more particular blocks and/or sheets to defined dimensions such that each of the articles can be combined with other of the articles. Different of the articles may be colored differently, such as for a team with multiple colors in its branding.
In the preferred embodiment, the present invention serves as a soft to the feel ornamental mask, covering the entirety of a person's face, but for perhaps openings for vision and venting (e.g., breathing openings). It alternatively can cover only portions of the face. It alternately can cover more than just the face or portions of the face and portions of the remainder of a person's body. The mask of the present invention provides venting such as through openings at or near the nose/mouth area or through embedded perforations, or both. In the preferred embodiment, the mask is worn by being slipped on over a person's head, with strapping behind and/or above and/or below the head for holding the mask on. In some embodiments the strapping can be adjusted. In the preferred embodiment the strapping is formed of the same material as the mask, albeit usually in a less visible color, such as black, or the same color as other articles of the mask. The strapping may be arranged as having locking tabs. In another embodiment, the strapping could be ratcheted for locking. In the preferred embodiment, the mask may be at least somewhat adjustable for different sized purposes, or the material used for strapping can be somewhat expandable or flexible enough to expand as needed.
A goal of the present invention is to provide an ornamental mask to depict a particular object or a characterization of a particular object, together with other attributes as described herein. The mask of the present invention may be intended to replicate a particular object or a portion of an object, such as an animal or the animal's head, or it could be a characterization of the animal or the animal's head, or it could be a replication, even in a comical way, of a real or fictional person or character. Alternatively, it could also be replication of an object or even a logo. To be a characterization of an animal's head, the characterization might be related to a particular use or characterization of the animal, such as relative to the nickname of a sports team. For example, the mask could depict a characterization of a team mascot, complete in appropriate colors.
In order to create a mask of the present invention, the mask structure, its articles, and the dimensions of the articles initially need to be established. As a starting point, a designer or equivalent needs to create a design of the mask of the present invention including its articles, and including connectivity between articles. See
All interconnection in the present invention is generally via tab and slot arrangements although other interconnecting means can be used. In the preferred embodiment, the mask is self-connection with no mechanical, adhesive, or other connecting devices being used. Based on formulating a model of the mask, a designer can formulate or fabricate a series of articles which can be combined to form the mask, with the overall design inclusive of connecting members. Each of the articles may be different colors, and the articles may be separately painted or dyed, or may come from sheets of individual colors.
Such a design needs to recognize the purpose of the mask. For example, if the mask is intended to entirely cover a person's head for several hours on multiple occasions, it must meet criteria for that situation, including venting, and being light weight and durable. Because it can be worn outdoors for extended time, the mask must be able to comfortably withstand environmental conditions such as heat and cold, and remain comfortable in adverse conditions such as rain, snow, and high humidity. Also, because of the desire to replicate or remind an observer of, for example, an animal such as one a sports team is named for, when worn, the mask of the present invention should have a particular appearance. Further, the mask can provide the added benefit of acting as an insulator to help keep the wearer's face or head warm, such as, for example, if worn as a spectator on a cold weather day, and as a sound insulator.
Once the structure of the mask is designed and understood, the designer needs to prepare a mold or die for each article of the mask, recognizing each piece will need to interlock with one or more other articles to form a mask. The mold may be formed for individual articles or a combination of articles. The mold of an article is usable for cutting and/or shaping the article. Individual articles alternatively may be fabricated using the mold, such as by injection and/or heat, or by cutting or stamping. For example, in
In the context of the present invention, the mask is entirely made from foam or foam-like based materials. Foam materials, such as EVA based materials, are particularly beneficial for use in the present invention because of the material being light weight, easily cuttable, and easily formable into the requisite shape. EVA also has the property of being foldable both to form the object and for storage. Other or alternate materials can be used as well. By using foam based materials, each article can be cut in two dimensions (with some defined thickness) but be shaped in three dimensions. See the beak of
In different embodiments of the present invention, the material used may include one or more of the following attributes: washable with water, lightweight (i.e., low density), odorless, tasteless, non-toxic, durable, waterproof, insulating, can be cut using sharp metal, revertible (returns to original form after being bent), and imprintable (will hold a pattern that is applied under high pressure).
The intent is to result in a single mask, replicatable, which is ready for wear.
See
In the preferred embodiment, all articles are made from the same material, albeit different articles are of different colors (as is evident in
The material of the present invention can be used to form a variety of shapes. In at least some embodiments, at least one connection between articles can be made with glue or another adhesive, such as to show one color on top of another. In alternate embodiments, different articles may be made of different materials or have different finishes, such as to accentuate certain attributes.
The materials of the present invention are generally and preferably inexpensive. Because the materials used are relatively inexpensive, the present invention is an improvement in previous designs at least because of cost efficiency. Further, in the preferred embodiment, the cost to manufacture is lower than present day ornamental wearables, largely due to the ease of manufacture using molds and low cost, easily manipulatable materials. The material of the present invention is also quite durable and can easily be compressed and stored. In addition, the pliability of the material allows pieces to interconnect with other materials, such as by using the various tab/slot assembly methods described herein. Further, the pliability allows for flexibility in parts when worn, such as a mouth opening. Also, the material can be colored in various ways, such as but not limited to dying, with the color absorbable into the material, thereby making the mask especially attractive such as by using pieces of different colors in combination.
In the preferred embodiment, the mask of the present invention is formed using a material such as a material in the EVA family, a vinyl acetate material, such as ethyl vinyl acetate, or ethylene vinyl acetate. Types of usable materials, either alone or in combination, include EVA, Micro EVA, Phylon, Kiplon® from Foamtex® of Mexico, Evalastic, EVA Confort, Soft Phylon, or EVA latex. The material of the present invention is preferably formed of recycled materials. The material used may be available in any number of colors and can serve as a heat and/or sound insulator. When prepared as a mask, the material is of any preferred thickness and is cut so as to be formed into a three dimensional shape. The mask of the present invention further includes the ability to be compressed into a smaller shape (such as for packing) and is self-expandable and revertable to the original three dimensional shape. The material is strong and durable and does not permanently deform under ordinary conditions. The material is also cuttable and bendable. In some embodiments, the material may be perforated and/or engraved either before or after cutting. In some embodiments, the perforations and/or engravings, if included, would be added after the material is of the desired thickness.
Among the features of the material of the present invention is fire retardant conformance to fire safety codes for wearable materials. The material is also insoluble in water and includes no materials known as pollutants. It does not decompose below 80 C.
Each piece is flexible, bendable, stretchable, compressible, and otherwise pliable and includes the attribute of reverting to its original shape after being manipulated. A completed mask, in three dimensions, reverts to its three dimensional configuration after being manipulated (such as being compressed for storage).
The manufacturing process for a mask is described below. In general, the process starts with a single foam block of a single color in the form of a three dimensional hyperrectangle block (although the block need not have right angles), such as a cube. Nominally, the hyperrectangle is about 3 feet cubed, however any dimensional three dimensional object may suffice. Additional blocks may be used for each color needed.
Each foam block is cut into sheets of a specified thickness, where each sheet is usable for a different mask or different elements of the same mask. At least in part because the material is pliable, cutting can be done with traditional cutting tools, such as knives. Sheets for masks are typically cut to a thickness of 3 mm. At 3 mm thickness, a foam block typically yields 40 sheets of 3 m×1.5 m. Each sheet is further cut into multiple units, referred to herein as squares (typically squares are used for simplicity, but other shapes can be used as well). The size of a square is determined by the size of the die for a particular mask. A particular die (or a plurality of dies) is designed to stamp all of the pieces of a single color needed for a single mask.
In general, a die is prepared by a craftsperson who previously determined the necessary pieces and sizes/shapes for a particular mask. The die for a piece serves as a template for a cut-out from the square, and the die includes any necessary pieces for attaching the pieces of the mask.
The square is stamped, preferably with a machine impact press using the die. A complete mask, comprising multiple colors may require components from multiple sheets. In general, the various stamped pieces are bound together in some way, such as by tab-and-slot, but without additional mechanical, adhesive, or other foreign enclosures. Typically a mask consists of two colors and would therefore require use of two squares, each separately cut. In cases where a mask component is used in multiples masks (e.g., including a tongue or teeth), a separate square may be used to cut multiple items used for multiple masks. The usable mask components are separated by hand from the unusable foam. The mask is then hand assembled and packaged.
The present application claims priority to U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 62/645,461, filed Mar. 20, 2018, now pending, the entirety of which is incorporated by reference.
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 62645461 | Mar 2018 | US |
