Neck ties are commonly worn with collared shirts as part conventional formal, business and casual attire. During physical altercations and other exigent circumstances, neck ties can become choke hazards to the wearer. In occupations, such as law enforcement and personal security, it is often critical to be able to quickly doff a neck tie to regain or maintain a tactical advantage that may prevent using the tie against the wearer.
This invention provides a convenient safety device designed to be worn about the neck on a conventional neck tie and concealed from view by the shirt collar that can quickly sever the neck tie by manually pulling on the device. The tie cutter of this invention includes a thin flat body and an embedded blade. The cutter body has a generally hour-glass shaped opening defined by a circular “loop” opening and a “blade” opening that merge together through a narrow “throat” opening. The blade is situated so that the sharp beveled edge extends laterally into and across the blade opening opposite the throat opening and the loop opening. The loop opening provides a “tie loop” through which a neck tie is passed when the tie cutter is donned on a neck tie and worn. It also provides a “finger loop” for hooking and pulling the tie cutter with a finger to sever a neck tie from around the wearer's neck. The tie cutter is worn under the collar with the neck tie passing through the loop opening of the cutter body. With the neck tie cinched around the wearer's neck, the tie cutter is held flat against the wearer's neck and concealed by the shirt collar. Manually pulling on the tie cutter forces the neck tie from the loop opening through the narrow throat opening into the blade opening and into contact with the blade, which severs the neck tie releasing it from around the wearer's neck.
The above described features and advantages, as well as others, will become more readily apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art by reference to the following detailed description and accompanying drawings.
The present invention may take form in various system and method components and arrangement of system and method components. The drawings are only for purposes of illustrating exemplary embodiments and are not to be construed as limiting the invention. The drawings illustrate the present invention, in which:
In the following detailed description of the preferred embodiments, reference is made to the accompanying drawings that form a part hereof, and in which is shown by way of illustration specific preferred embodiments in which the invention may be practiced. These embodiments are described in sufficient detail to enable those skilled in the art to practice the invention, and it is understood that other embodiments may be utilized and that logical, structural, mechanical, electrical, and chemical changes may be made without departing from the spirit or scope of the invention. To avoid detail not necessary to enable those skilled in the art to practice the invention, the description may omit certain information known to those skilled in the art. The following detailed description is, therefore, not to be taken in a limiting sense, and the scope of the present invention is defined only by the appended claims.
Referring now to the drawings,
Cutter body 110 is generally a single flat piece molded, formed or otherwise constructed of a durable polymer material, such as a fiberglass reinforce plastic. Other embodiments of the cutter body may also be cast, stamped, cut or machined from other suitable materials, such as ceramics and metals. Cutter body 110 is sized and configured to be concealed under the collar of a standard dress shirt. Dimensionally, cutter body 110 has a length of approximately two inches and a width of one and one quarter inches and a thickness less than ⅜ of an inch.
As shown, cutter body 110 has flat top and bottom surfaces and rounded edges to prevent Cutter 100 from snagging on the fabric of a shirt, neck tie or other clothing. Cutter body 110 has a rounded “loop” end 112 and a squared “blade” end 114. Cutter body 110 has a generally hour-glass shaped opening defined by a circular “loop” opening 113 and a “blade” opening 117 that merge together through a narrow “throat” opening 115. Throat opening 115 is formed by a pair of opposed side lobes 116 that extend inward from the sides of cutter body 110 between loop opening 113 and blade opening 115. The configuration of cutter body 110 with the rounded end 112 and loop opening 113 provides a “tie loop” through which a neck tie is passed when tie cutter 100 is donned on a neck tie and worn. It also provides a “finger loop” for hooking and pulling the tie cutter with a finger to manually sever a neck tie from around the wearer's neck.
Blade 120 is typically a small thin ceramic or steel straight blade embedded into the cutter body 110 or fitted and bonded within a thin slit formed in the cutter body. As shown, blade 120 is situated to lie within the central longitudinal plane of cutter body 110. Blade 120 is situated so that the sharp beveled edge extends laterally into and across blade opening 115 opposite throat opening 115 and loop opening 113. Blade opening 117 is dimensioned and configured, so as to generally shield blade 120 and prevent a wearer's fingers from contacting the blade during use.
It should be apparent from the foregoing that the invention has significant novel utility. While the invention is shown in only a few of its forms, it is not just limited but is susceptible to various changes and modifications without departing from the spirit thereof. The embodiment of the present invention herein described and illustrated is not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the invention to the precise form disclosed. It is presented to explain the invention so that others skilled in the art might utilize its teachings. The embodiment of the present invention may be modified within the scope of the following claims.
This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 62/504,374 filed May 10, 2017, the disclosure of which is hereby incorporated by reference. This invention relates to a safety device worn with a neck tie, and in particular a neck tie cutter worn about the neck tie for severing the tie from around a wearer's neck.
Number | Date | Country | |
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62504374 | May 2017 | US |