Patent Application
20120183168
Individuals frequently employ any number of fashion accessories. For instance, objects may be adorned with accessories. Shoes, for example, may be accessorized. However, the ornaments are often either affixed permanently or attached to the shoes, for example, by a clip-on or Velcro attachment. For the Velcro system, the consumer typically needs to buy the manufacturers' footwear for the ornament to affix properly. With the clip-on ornaments, the clip-on system is typically not secure, may damage the footwear, and is uncomfortable for the wearer.
Accessory systems and methods may be provided for the attachment of an ornament to objects, such as footwear. The accessory may be designed with two loops attached to the back of a decorative ornament. In the footwear implementation, the ornament preferably rests on the upper part of the shoe, while the two loops, which may be implemented in elastic or any type of elastomeric material, secure it by coming together underneath the shoe strap, upper or lace to form a single combined loop and then flipping over the ornament, thereby holding it in place. In this way, aspects of the invention can address such issues asinstability of the ornament by meeting the two loops together to form a single combined loop, which is wrapped around the ornament. This two loop system that forms a single combined loop securely fastens the ornament to the shoe, provides stability from movement, and enables the ornament to be centered and stabilized during and after attachment.
The accessory system may be safe for footwear and comfortable for the wearer. The inventive accessory system may work on most footwear, providing there is a strap, lace or upper portion of the shoe facilitating attachment.
With the present invention, the consumer need not buy a new pair of shoes. The wearer may use the same ornament on a number of different shoes, or a number of different ornaments on the same shoe, to change the look easily. In addition, the footwear accessories created according to the present systems and methods are designed to be comfortable and not damage the shoe.
According to an embodiment of the invention, footwear accessory systems and methods may be provided. A removable apparatus for accessorizing footwear may be provided. The footwear accessory is designed with two elastic loops attached to a coupler at the back of a decorative ornament. An ornament may be provided that is capable of being removably attached to a portion of the footwear (e.g. a shoe strap). The ornament may have a coupler (attachment means) that enables an elastic fastener to attach the ornament to the shoe strap. The coupler may have at least two holes. The elastic fastener may have two elastic loops. The fastener can be threaded through one or more of the holes on the coupler. When pulled through each of the holes, two loops are provided, one on each side of the fastener. The two elastic loops are capable of being wrapped underneath the shoe strap to secure the ornament on the shoe strap.
The accessory ornament may be moved from shoe to shoe, allowing the wearer to create their own look. In addition, the wearer may change the ornament on the same shoe, changing the look of that one shoe, depending on the chosen ornament.
A system of attaching a removable accessory to an item may be provided. An ornament may be removably coupled to a salient portion of the item. The salient portion of the item is capable of receiving the ornament. For example, the item may be a ski pole, and the salient portion of the ski pole may be a portion of it that is capable of receiving the ornament for attachment, such as the handle or strap of the ski pole. The item may be a ski or other helmet, and the salient portion of the helmet may be the goggle retention strap. The item may be goggles, and the salient portion of the goggles may be the head strap. The item may be a purse, and the salient portion may be the strap of the purse. The item may be a bike, and the salient portion may be the handle bars. The item may be a hair accessory, and the salient portion may be a strap of the accessory. The item may be a wearer's body, and the salient portion may be hair or a finger.
The ornament may include a coupler that couples an elastic fastener to the ornament. The coupler may include at least two holes. The fastener includes first and second loops, each loop threaded through one or more of the holes on the coupler. The first and second loops are wrapped underneath the salient portion of the item to form a single combined loop securing the ornament onto the salient portion of the item, such that the first and second loops are joined together to form the single combined loop that is wrapped over the ornament, where the wrapping of the single combined loop over the ornament causes the ornament to be secured to the salient portion of the item. The fastener may be elastic, such that the first and second loops may be elastic loops. The fastener may be an elastomeric strap made from one or more of: molded rubber, silicone or thermoplastic elastomeric material. The coupler may include an interlocking post that secures the fastener to provide a snap fit to attach the ornament to the fastener. The interlocking post may secure the fastener to the ornament without any additional mechanical or chemical fasteners.
The ornament may be operable to receive/interface with any of a plurality of accessories, each accessory having their own respective design. The accessory designs may attach to the face of the ornament.
The ornament may include computer processor and a media player or communication client to facilitate playback of music.
A method of attaching a removable accessory to a shoe may be provided. First and second loops of an elastic fastener may be created by threading the fastener through holes on a coupler attached to an ornament. The fastener may be coupled to a strap of the shoe to facilitate attachment of the ornament to the shoe strap by: wrapping first and second loops under opposite sides of the strap; joining the first and second loops under the strap to form a single combined loop; and pulling the single combined loop over the top of the ornament to secure the ornament to the shoe, whereby the single combined loop stabilizes the ornament on the shoe strap and prevents the ornament from moving to one side of the shoe strap.
A removable apparatus for accessorizing footwear may be provided. An ornament capable of being removably coupled to a portion of a shoe strap may be provided. The ornament may have a coupler configured to couple an elastic fastener to the ornament. The coupler may have two holes for threading the elastic fastener through the coupler. The fastener may include a two loop system including first and second loops, each loop being created as a result of threading the fastener through the respective holes on the coupler. The two loop system may be configured such that the first and second loops are wrapped underneath the shoe strap to form a single combined loop to facilitate securing the ornament to the shoe strap, where the first and second loops are joined together to form the single combined loop. The two loop system may include the single combined loop, which is pulled over the ornament to secure the ornament to the shoe strap.
A removable accessory system may be provided that is integrated with a media player/communications client. An ornament may be removably attached to a salient portion of an item. The salient portion of the item is capable of receiving (accepting) the ornament for attachment. The ornament may have a coupler/coupling means for coupling an elastic fastener to the ornament. The coupler may have at least two holes. The fastener may have first and second loops, each loop threaded through one of the holes on the coupler, where the first and second loops secure the ornament to the salient portion of the item. The ornament may include a media player and a processor configured to execute the media player to facilitate playback of sound files.
The salient portion of the item may be a portion of a handle of a ski pole. The salient portion of the item may be a portion of goggles. The salient portion of the item may be the goggle retention strap attached to a ski helmet. The salient portion of the item may be a handlebar of a bicycle. The salient portion of the item may be a part of the wearer's body.
The first and second loops are joined together to form the single combined loop that is wrapped around the salient portion of the item and over the ornament, where the wrapping of the single combined loop over the ornament causes the ornament to be secured to the salient portion of the item.
The foregoing and other objects, features and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the following more particular description of preferred embodiments of the invention, as illustrated in the accompanying drawings in which like reference characters refer to the same parts throughout the different views. The drawings are not necessarily to scale, emphasis instead being placed upon illustrating the principles of the invention.
A description of preferred embodiments of the invention follows.
Accessory systems and methods are provided. The accessory systems and methods may be implemented for attachment to accessorize another object, such as footwear. The accessory may be designed with two loops attached to the back of a decorative ornament. In the footwear implementation, the ornament preferably rests on the upper part of the shoe, while the two loops, which may be implemented in elastic or any type of elastomeric material, secure it by coming together to form a single combined loop underneath the shoe strap, upper or lace and then flipping over the ornament, thereby holding it in place.
The present invention may be used interchangeably on most types of footwear. These accessory ornaments may be moved from shoe to shoe, allowing the wearer to create their own look. In addition, the wearer may change the ornament on the same shoe, changing the look of that one shoe, depending on the chosen ornament.
The ornament may have a fabric/upholstery covering with a metal back.
The ornament 10 may be a plastic molded bezel as shown in
In another embodiment, the ornament 10 may be stamped metal. The metal may be manufactured using progressive die or stage tools, as well as spot welding to attach a button feature/decoration element.
In
Other techniques may involve taking the two loops on each side and individually wrapping them around the ornament. These techniques involve taking each loop individually and securing that respective loop separately around the ornament. There are several disadvantages, however, with such approaches. If one secures each loop individually one at a time, it can cause the ornament to slide to, for example, the wearer's toes. The ornament can slide during the attachment process, or after it has been attached.
Certain embodiments of the present invention addresses such issues of instability of the ornament by meeting the two loops together to form a single combined loop, which is wrapped around the ornament. The present two loop system that forms a single combined loop securely fastens the ornament to the shoe, provides stability from movement, and enables the ornament to be centered during and after attachment.
Although the ornament 10 is described as being implemented in connection with footwear, the accessory system can be attached to other objects. For example, the accessory system can be used as hair decorations/hair bands or rings. The ornament accessory system may also be used on other types of footwear or objects, such as handbags, hair products, zippers, steering wheels, ski poles, ski helmets, goggles, personal electronics, bicycle handle bars and scooters.
In the ski poles implementation, the accessory system can help differentiate the ski poles from other ski poles, thereby assisting the user in quick and easy identification of their equipment. In the ski pole implementation, the two loop method may be used in which the two loops are combined together as one loop prior to attachment. The single combined loop may be placed over the handle of the ski pole to secure the accessory system to the ski pole.
In the personal electronic implementation, the ornament 10 includes onboard electronics including at least one computer processor and a media player enabling playback of music. The media player ornament implementation may be combined with the ski pole implementation such that the media player of the present accessory system may provide playback of music while attached to the user/skier's ski pole.
In a zipper implementation, the accessory system may provide a zipper pull for the zipper. The attachment may be located higher on the ornament (closer to the top on the ornament) so that it lies flat. A lanyard clip to may be provided to the attachment. The elastic band may be pierced through the eye of the zipper to facilitate attachment.
While this invention has been particularly shown and described with references to preferred embodiments thereof, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that various changes in form and details may be made therein without departing from the scope of the invention encompassed by the appended claims.
For example, it should be understood that the ornaments may be made out of any material or combination of materials. The ornaments may be made out of a variety of materials, including hard and soft plastics, wood, fabric, felt, natural shell and metal. In one preferred embodiment, the fasteners are made of fabric covered elastic.
It should be further understood that in the embodiment where the ornament facilitates playback of sound files, the ornament 10 may include components of a computer to perform this feature as shown in
In one embodiment, the processor routines 492 and data 494 are a computer program product/media player (generally referenced 492), including a computer readable medium that provides at least a portion of the software instructions for the invention system. Computer program product 492 can be installed by any suitable software installation procedure, as is well known in the art. In another embodiment, at least a portion of the software instructions may also be downloaded over a cable, communication and/or wireless connection. In other embodiments, the invention programs are a computer program propagated signal product 307 embodied on a propagated signal on a propagation medium (e.g., a radio wave, an infrared wave, a laser wave, a sound wave, or an electrical wave propagated over a global network such as the Internet, or other network(s)). Such carrier medium or signals provide at least a portion of the software instructions for the present invention routines/program 492.
In alternate embodiments, the propagated signal is an analog carrier wave or digital signal carried on the propagated medium. For example, the propagated signal may be a digitized signal propagated over a global network (e.g., wireless network or the Internet), a telecommunications network, or other network. In one embodiment, the propagated signal is transmitted over the propagation medium over a period of time, such as the instructions for a software application sent in packets over a network over a period of milliseconds, seconds, minutes, or longer. In another embodiment, the computer readable medium of computer program product 492 is a propagation medium that the computer system 350 may receive and read, such as by receiving the propagation medium and identifying a propagated signal embodied in the propagation medium, as described above for computer program propagated signal product.
This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 61/364,493, filed on Jul. 15, 2010. The entire teachings of the above application are incorporated herein by reference.
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 61364493 | Jul 2010 | US |
