Patent Application
20210068486
The invention relates generally to a shirt stay for maintaining a shirt tail within a pair of pants or other bottoms, and a method for using the shirt stay. More particularly, in accordance with an embodiment of the invention, a shirt stay is provided that includes a support clip shared by both a top garment and a bottom garment (i.e., “bottoms”), and having opposing, U-shaped spring clips, to maintain the top garment within the bottoms.
A majority of men and women wear shirts or blouses tucked into respective bottoms (e.g. shorts, pants, skirts, etc.). The shirt or blouse is neat, and when worn with dress-type bottoms, present a clean and professional look often utilized by white-collar workers in a professional work environment. However, when a user repeatedly stands up and sits down after wearing the above-described attire, the left and right waist parts of the top garment, as well as the front and back of the garment, naturally come loose from the user's bottoms, to the outside of a belt line in an untucked fashion. It is also very common that, for the same reason, pants slip down from the waistline even if supported by a belt. In order to prevent this from occurring, it is known in the prior art to line the inside of a user's bottoms or skirt with silicon tape. However, the left and right waist parts of the top garment eventually come loose out of the user's bottoms or skirt when the user moves, causing the user to repeatedly to re-tuck their top into theirs bottoms or skirt.
To solve the above-mentioned problem of silicon tapes failing to properly keep a top garment securely in place, Korean patent application publication No. 1020050039365 discloses a dress shirt or a T-shirt that is fixed using weight bodies, so that one end of the dress shirt or T-shirt is prevented from coming loose out of a user's bottoms, to the outside of a belt line. However, with the foregoing invention, the user's movements are substantially limited by the number of weight bodies affixed to the user's garment (i.e., “top”). The weight of these bodies causes a significant effect on the user, as gravity further weighs down the user's top. Accordingly, a problem still exists, where a top may come loose out of the user's bottoms, when light weight bodies are affixed to the user's top.
U.S. Pat. No. 9,084,448 B2 to Keum discloses a clip-shaped device for preventing tops from becoming untucked, where pants are fixed between an upper clip part and a lower clip part, and a belt is fixed between the upper clip part and a decorative cover element, while, at the same time, lower ends of the tops are fixed by a fixing member, thereby preventing the lower ends of the tops from being exposed to the outside of the bottoms. The use of a decorative cover element may not be a suitable solution for everybody wishing to prevent untucking of their tops.
What is needed is a shirt stay that is suitable to all users. What is additionally needed is a shirt stay having some flexibility in its gripping members, so as to hold a top securely tucked-in to the bottoms, without damaging the material to which it is attached. What is further needed is a shirt stay that permits interchanging of gripping elements to allow the tension applied to the garments to be varied, individually for the top garment and the bottom garment.
It is accordingly an object of the invention to provide shirt stay including a support clip, and a corresponding method of using the short stay that addresses the needs set forth above. In one particular embodiment of the invention, a shirt stay is provided with a dual gripping mechanism is provided for preventing a top from becoming untucked while simultaneously preventing pants from slipping down from the waist. In one particular preferred embodiment, the shirt stay includes an S-shaped or Z-shaped double clip, made up of two permanently interlocked U-shaped spring clips oriented in opposite directions and having interchangeable grips at the free ends of the spring legs, to adjust the spacing, and correspondingly, the spring tension, of the U-shaped spring clips.
In the above-described embodiment, the U-shaped spring clips are configured to hold a top garment and a bottom garment securely in place, relative to one another, when the springs are in a closed position. The spring tension of each U-shaped spring clip is adjusted by the interchangeable grips. In one particular embodiment, a kit is provided including a plurality of pairs of grips having differing characteristics from other pairs that are provided. In this embodiment, the user can select a varying degree of gripping force/spring force based on the type of clothing material and/or thickness that the user desires to secure.
The opposite facing U-shaped spring clips of the Z-shaped double-clip shirt stay of the present invention effectively prevents the bottom of a top garment from becoming untucked and exposed outside of the user's bottom garment, while simultaneously securing the user's bottom garment in place, thus achieving the effect that the user can have a comfortable and neat style of dress without the need to repeatedly readjust an exposed top garment back into the user's bottom garment.
Other features which are considered as characteristic for the invention are set forth in the drawings, description and appended claims.
Although the invention is illustrated and described herein as embodied in a shirt stay with support clip and a method for using a shirt stay, it is nevertheless not intended to be limited to the details shown, since various modifications and structural changes may be made therein without departing from the spirit of the invention and within the scope and range of equivalents of the claims.
The construction and method of operation of the invention, however, together with additional objects and advantages thereof will be best understood from the following description of specific embodiments when read in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which like reference numerals represent like items.
For purposes of the present invention, note that, although the term “pants” is used generically herein to describe a bottom garment, to aid in the understanding of the invention. It should be understood that “pants” are merely one example of a type of bottoms with which the present invention can be used, and the term “pants” should be considered as being interchangeable with the terms “bottoms” and “bottom garment(s)”. The invention is not meant to be limited only to its use with pants, but rather, may also be used with any other type of bottom garments, including, but not limited to, shorts, skirts, and undergarments. Similarly, the term “shirt” is used generically, herein, to describe an upper garment, and should be considered to also encompass any type of upper garment including, but not limited to, a dress shirt, blouse, t-shirt, polo, undershirt or chemise.
Referring now to
The two U-shaped spring clips 110a, 110b open in opposite directions from one another. Each of the two U-shaped spring clips 110a, 110b comprises a permanently attached spring leg 112a, 112b, respectively, and shares a central spring body or member 114 in the middle, between them. For example, the spring leg 112a and central spring body 114, together, form the U-shaped spring clip 110a, while the spring leg 112b and central spring body 114, together, form the U-shaped spring clip 110b. The material in the area where each leg 112 is joined with the central spring body 114 is flexible, and/or thinned, so as to form a living hinge, while still having enough rigidity to maintain the clip 110 in an S- or Z-shape, as illustrated. As a consequence of the flexible joining area, the free end of each spring leg 112 can be forced away from the central spring body 114, to admit and entrap a portion of a garment therebetween. In one preferred embodiment, the support clip 110 is made from a rigid plastic material, thermoplastic, and/or an open cell foam.
In the preferred embodiment illustrated in
In accordance with one particularly preferred embodiment, additional frictional holding is provided by interchangeable gripping components or grips 120, which slide onto the bearing surfaces 116, at the free ends of each spring leg 112 of the support clip 112, and which are removable therefrom. In the embodiment illustrated, the grips 120 are configured as substantially cylindrical sleeves including a channel 122, sized to slide over the bearing surface, projection 116. In one embodiment of the invention, differently sized grips 120a and 120b are provided, and can be interchanged for one another on the bearing surfaces 116. For example, a grip 120a, 120b of a desired size can be selected by the user and slid (via the channel 122) over the bearing surface 116, where it is held in a frictional fit. Alternately, if desired each bearing surface 116 may include one or more channels with which one or more edges of the grip 120 can be engaged. Other solutions for adhering the grips 120 to the bearing surfaces 112 in a non-permanent fashion may be provided without departing from the scope and spirit of the present invention. In one particular embodiment of the invention, the grips 120 are made of a rubber and/or open-cell foam material.
In another embodiment of the invention, a shirt stay kit is provided to a user that includes one support clip 110 and a variety of interchangeable grips 120, including at least two pairs of grips 120, each pair being of different in some attribute than the other pair. For example, interchangeable grips 120 can be provided that have differing thicknesses, shapes, and frictional properties, each of which provides varying degrees of grip depending on the type of fabric that is to be secured. Thus, the present invention has the important feature that the user can select the appropriate grip 120a or 120b to place on the bearing surfaces of the legs 112a and 112b, based on the individual thicknesses and materials of the top and bottom garments. If desired, a differently sized grip 120 can be used on the bearing surface 116 of leg 112a, than is used on the bearing surface 116 of leg 112b.
In the present invention, the grips 120 act as spacers, changing the spacing between the leg members 112 and the body 114, by the addition of the grips of selected thicknesses at the ends of each spring leg 112. This allows the spring legs 112 to apply different spring tensions on the garments, so as to accommodate different fabric thicknesses and materials. More particularly, the interchangeable grips 120 provide an initial tension to the U-shaped spring clip 110a and 110b, by pushing spring legs 112 apart from the shared body 114 of the U-shaped spring clips 110a, 110b.
Referring now to
Also like the previous embodiment, the support clip 210 additionally includes two opposing, U-shaped spring clips 210a and 210b, which open opposite to one another. Each U-shaped spring clip 210a, 210b is formed by a spring leg 212 joined with a shared central spring body 214 by a flexible living hinge. However, rather than sliding over a bearing surface, as in the previous embodiment, the grips 220 engage bearing surfaces at the free ends of the spring legs 212a, 212b (i.e., the ends opposite the spring leg end joined to the shared, common central spring body 214) in an interlocking, tongue-and-groove or dovetailed fashion. For example, in the present embodiment, each spring leg 212 has at its free end a bearing surface including a groove or track 216 formed therein. Each grip 220 includes a tongue 222 shaped complementary to the groove 216, and a pad 224, which overlays the bearing surface at the end of the leg 212, when the tongue 222 is fully received in the groove 216 (as illustrated in
As described in connection with the previous embodiments, the support clip 210 can be provided as part of a kit that includes a plurality of different grips 220 that are interlockable with, and removable from, the bearing surface of the free end of the spring legs 212. Additionally, the different grips 220 of the kit can have different characteristics from one another, such as differing thicknesses, shapes, and frictional properties, to permit varying degrees of grip to be selected depending on the type of fabric that is to be secured. In a preferred embodiment, the kit is provided with pairs of grips 220 having pads of different thicknesses, so that the grips 220 will act as spacers, changing the spacing between the leg members 212 and the body 214, by the addition of the grips 220 having pads 224 of selected thicknesses at the ends of each spring leg 212.
In one particular embodiment of the invention, each tongue 222 has a width w of about 3.0 mm, to correspond to a complementary width of the groove 216. In that embodiment, a neck 223, disposed between the tongue 222 and pad 224 has a width w of about 3.0 mm to correspond to a complementary portion of the groove 216. In use, the interchangeable grips 220 are disposed opposite the permanent grips 230 and, due to the spring force of each U-shaped spring 210a, 210b, apply a force to one another. In other words, the pad 224 of each grip 220 presses against the grip 230, due to the spring force of the device. Both the grips 220 and the grips 230 should be selected from a material that applies a frictional gripping force to a fabric gripped therebetween. The support clip 210, itself, can be made from a rigid plastic material, thermoplastic and/or an open cell foam.
Referring now to
Prior to applying the support clip to a garment, a user selects a grip having the desired characteristics based on the characteristics of the bottoms material. Step 320. For example, the user selects a grip having a thickness or frictional hold, based on the thickness or type of material used in the bottom garment. A grip having desired characteristics for use with the top material is similarly selected by the user. Step 330.
The user then interlocks the selected grips to the appropriate bearing surfaces of the spring legs of the support clip. Step 340. For example, the grip can be slid over a bearing surface, as described in connection with
The shirt stay 380, with the grips attached, is then locked to the bottom garment. Step 350. This is done by orienting the shirt stay 380 with a downwardly facing U-shaped spring over the waistband 390 of the bottom garment, and pushing the clip down over the top of a waistband 390, with the upwardly facing U-shaped clip pointed into the bottoms (i.e., towards the user). The waistband 390 of the bottom garment should then be locked between the spring leg and central spring body of the downwardly facing U-shaped clip of the shirt stay 380.
With the shirt stay 380 affixed to the waistband of the bottom garment in the orientation described above, and illustrated in
Then, as illustrated in
Accordingly, while a preferred embodiment of the present invention is shown and described herein, it will be understood that the invention may be embodied otherwise than as herein specifically illustrated or described, and that within the embodiments certain changes in the detail and construction, as well as the arrangement of the parts, may be made without departing from the principles of the present invention as defined by the appended claims.
The present application claims benefit of co-pending Provisional Patent Application No. 62/897,375, filed on Sep. 8, 2019, entitled Shirt Stay—In/Pants Support Clip, that application being incorporated herein, by reference, in its entirety.
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 62897375 | Sep 2019 | US |
