Patent Application
20170303614
This invention relates to a device to secure a towel or other cloth garment around a person's body. In particular, this invention relates to a unique clip device used to secure the towel or other cloth garment around the person's body usually after that person has showered. This invention could also be used when persons have been swimming or in the water would like to secure a towel or other cloth item around their body.
In our society, numerous types of clip devices assist people and perform various functions. One definition of a clip is a device that grips and holds tightly. A second definition for a clip is a metal or plastic clasp for holding together items such as papers or letters. A third definition is a device, usually of metal, for fastening together two or more things or parts of the same thing. Many people also use clips to close openings in articles such as bags. There are many types of clips and just as many if not more uses for these clips.
Bathers and swimmers oftentimes prefer to wrap themselves in a beach or bath towel for periods after swimming or bathing. While wrapped in the towel, they participate in activities which have a tendency to loosen the towel resulting in slipping and/or separation. A conventional practice is to wrap the free ends of the towel in an overlapping fashion. Sometimes these ends may be tied together. However, these beach type towels are generally larger than regular towels and the extra towel weight from absorbed moisture tends to loosen the connection such that the towel must be retightened from time to time. In addition, normal activities create horizontal separation forces on the folded towel also requiring retightening of the towel. At the present time there are not commercially available clips for maintaining beach and bath towels securely about the wearer.
Many approaches have been taken for freely hanging smaller towels of differing shapes and sizes from various articles such as chairs, cabinets, golf bags and a variety of outdoor sporting and recreational equipment. In such applications, the clips are useful for holding the towel for their intended cleaning purposes. Generally, the towel clip need only support the towel weight during storage in as much as the towel is released from the clip for utilitarian use. Where greater security of a towel position is desired, eyelets and other permanent fasteners have been used thereby requiring a dedicated clip and towel assembly.
Some developments in clip designs include U.S. Pat. No. 5,148,581 which describes a clamp device for attaching an article and an adjacently positioned object in a predetermined orientation with respect to each other. A clamp, which includes a first and a second portion, is releasably maintained in a substantially closed orientation by a biased member. The clamp is pivotally mounted about a securement member. The securement member includes two substantially parallel positioned prongs which are insertable into the adjacently positioned object. The prongs each have an insertion tip, for initial insertion into the object, and an angled section located near the back end of the clamp. Extending at one angle between each prong and a region of the securement member about which the clamp is pivotally mounted is an extension section.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,405,415 describes a body towel clip for releasably preventing separation of overlapping portions of a towel wrapped around the torso of a user, includes a pair of pivotally interconnected clamp members having barbed jaw portions interengaging in a clamped position to securely fasten overlapping towel end, the jaw portions including interengaging barbs which resist gravitational separation and activity separation of the towel ends and distribute reactive forces along the jaw to prevent damage to the pivotal connection.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,963,010 describes a molded, semi ridged device for the purpose of securing a length of fabric or towel wrapped around the body of a person. This clip has a straight flat base connected to a face by a top section. This towel/fabric clip has raise rails running vertically under the face, and raised rails running vertically under the base of the device to insure horizontal and vertical pressure on the towel/fabric.
Many of the current towel clips do not adequately address the particular obstacles encountered when securing towels such as beach or bath towels in place on a user after bathing or swimming. As mentioned, towels for these types of activities can be generally larger and heavier and therefore can create size and weight problems which are exacerbated when the towels are wet. In addition, typical body movements by the person wearing a towel can cause towel edges to separate. As a result, current clips and assemblies are not well designed to prevent separation of the wrapped towel during normal movements. Therefore, there remains a need for a towel clip device that can be used secure in place overlapping towel edges in wrapped configurations on the body of the user and can resist separation of the towel from the clip due to the towel weight and wearer body motion. Moreover, such a towel clip should be able to accommodate towel sizes, designs, and fabrics selected by the wearer, present a clip design and configuration artistically harmonious with the setting, and resist degradation over long periods of use.
The present invention is a clip element used to secure a towel or other cloth-like item to or around a person's body. The cloth item having two edges is usually wrapped around the person's body such that the edges overlap. The clip element of the present is positioned to surround both edges of the cloth item and clamp them such that the edges do not come apart the cloth item fall when the person releases them. The clip element of the present invention holds the cloth edges in place and maintains the same tension created by the person when they initially wrapped the cloth item around their body.
The clip element of the present invention comprises two opposing inner surfaces have jagged edges to engage and secure the cloth item in the clip. The flexible bridge element connects the two sides of the clip. The flexible bridge allows a user to pull out on the bottom front portion of the clip while catching the back portion of the clip behind the cloth on the wearer's torso to “thread” the cloth up to the top of the clip. Once the cloth knot (created from gathering one end of the towel and tucking it behind the flat part of the towel against the wearer's skin) is at the top rounded portion of the internal clip the cloth is being held by the pressure that is created by the clips fullness.
The present invention describes a clip device which has a primary application of clipping together and securing at least two edges of a cloth garment (usually a towel article) that is wrapped around a user's body. Referring to
Both sides 102 and 104 can have generally smooth external surfaces. These external surfaces can also have a generally linear shape. The inner surfaces 108 and 110 of sides 102 and 104 can have jagged edges. These jagged edges comprise projected points 112 and recesses 114. The projected points can extend along a substantial portion of the inner surface of each side. The projection points and recesses on each inner surface can be designed such that a projection of one surface fits into a recess of the other inner surface similar to puzzle pieces. The bottom edges 116 and 118 of both sides 102 and 104 are also offset to facilitate securing of a towel object. When a towel is inserted into the clip device of the present invention, these projected points 112 engage towel edges. The jagged inner surfaces of the present invention provide a more secure grasp of the towel than clips with smooth inner surfaces. Clips with smooth internal surfaces rely primarily on force exerted on these surfaces to hold the towel in place. Also shown between the inner surfaces is an opening 120. This opening increases closer to the bridge section 106.
This embodiment of the present invention describes a one-piece design for the towel clip device. In addition to this design, there can other designs having multiple pieces and having moving parts as well. In the present design, this clip generates the force that is applied to bring the two sides 102 and 104 together and secure an object between the sides. The clip is designed so that the two sides are normally positioned close to each other. As shown in
In the present invention, the two sides 102 and 104 and the bridge 106 form a design such that an adequate opening for insertion of the towel article has to be created by forcing the two sides apart. To accomplish this, the sides can be angled in relation to the bridge. The angle of the side and the rigidity or flexibility of the bridge can influence the amount of force that can be applied to an article. In addition, the size of the clip impacts the size range of towels that the clip can hold.
The cloth garment clip of the present invention can be comprised of various materials including plastic, rubber and metal. Again, a main feature of the invention is the design of the inner surfaces that engages and secures the towel around the person. The design of the inner surfaces has to be such that the clip adequately engages and secures the towel without damaging the towel.
This invention provides significant advantages over the current art. The invention has been described in connection with its preferred embodiments. However, it is not limited thereto. Changes, variations and modifications to the basic design may be made without departing from the inventive concepts in this invention. In addition, these changes, variations and modifications would be obvious to those skilled in the art having the benefit of the foregoing teachings. All such changes, variations and modifications are intended to be within the scope of this invention.
This formal utility patent application is related to provisional patent application No. 61/927,007. The contents of both applications are incorporated herein by reference.
