Patent Application
20110219516
1. Field of the Invention
The invention pertains to the field of neckwear. More particularly, the invention pertains to neckties having interchangeable portions.
2. Description of Related Art
I came up with the idea of the necktie of the invention while sitting at home watching television, Every man I saw on the News channels, Game and Sports shows, and even the senators and congressmen had ties that were either too tight, too loose, dented, bunched up, and pushed off to the left or right. There was no uniform look, or neatness that showed through. All of the men had great looking shirts and sport coats. However their ties, which should be the focus point of a good looking suit, although well made and very colorful, were not eye appealing, neat, or tidy looking.
My idea is to create a new look that is smooth, neat, uniform, unique, easy to put on, and that gives a quality look to a well made suit.
We also have many young people in school, college, or just starting out in the business world, that would not have to worry about how to tie a tie, or get it to look right after they had tied it. I personally always had trouble getting the front of the tie to be longer than the back.
Lately I've been seeing many men on television just wearing dress shirts with open collars, and a sport coat. I believe this is happening because men, young or old, are losing interest in having to tie a tie each morning, or after tying it how it looks because of dents, unappealing shape, or they are just not uniform looking.
I think employers looking for a new employee are more impressed with a person wearing a sharp looking tie, than someone just wearing an open neck shirt and sport coat. I believe that neatness, uniformity, and quality are a very important part of any sale, whether it's a product, or yourself.
Cole, U.S. Pat. No. 401,690, “Neckscarf”, shows a reversible tie system, in which the depending tie portion has attachment loops at each end, allowing the tie to pass through a simulated knot on the neckband and fasten in place by a button. The tie portion can be reversed or flipped end-for-end, allowing additional wear.
Less, U.S. Pat. No. 1,972,594, “Tie and Method of Making the Same”, shows a tie made up of a number of parts, including a simulated knot, which are permanently sewn together.
Loomis, U.S. Pat. No. 2,874,386, “Necktie”, has a split and adjustable neckband fastening with a buckle, and a simulated knot sewn to a single-layer tie portion.
Chen, U.S. Pat. No. 5,778,453, “Necktie”, shows an interchangeable tie system having a neck strap and a mechanical attachment fixture having springs and catches to which tie portions mechanically attach with clips.
DeLuca, U.S. Pat. No. 6,363,533, “Extended Use-Life Improved Tie” shows a three- or four-piece tie having a rigid “knot” part, one or two impermeable neck straps joined by holes in pins or hook-and-loop material, and a single piece tie which has holes which hook or snap to fittings inside the “knot”.
Paik, US Published Application 2001/0042259, “Necktie” shows a two-part necktie system in which the simulated “knot” part of the tie is rigid and three-dimensional, and a conventional necktie loops over a clip which inserts into the “knot”.
Bostwick, US Published Application 2005/0015845, “Hand-Tied Hook and Loop Necktie” is a conventional tie with a hand-tied knot stitched in place. The neck band of the tie is split and joined by hook-and-loop fastener material.
The invention presents a necktie having two components—a collar component for fastening around a wearer's neck and a tie component. These two components will be connected with mating portions of hook-and-loop fastener material on the tie portion and on at least one side of the central portion of the collar component in the area where the knot of a conventional necktie would be. The collar and tie components can be made in assorted colors, sizes and patterns, so that a wearer will be able to mix and match the tie components with various collar components.
A cylindrical holder is also described, which allows storage of a number of the neckties by fastening the collar component of the necktie around the cylinder.
a-7c show the necktie of the invention as fastened around a collar, showing how the tie component can be interchanged with different designs.
a-8g show details of the front part of the invention, in an embodiment having additional ornaments fastening to the front of the collar component.
One advantage of owning the necktie of the invention is not having to tie a tie every time you get dressed in the morning. You simply connect a tie component and collar component together, pull your shirt collar up, and wrap the collar component straps around your neck, press the fastener together at the point adjusted for your neck, put your shirt collar down, and you are ready for your sport coat.
Another advantage is the consumer can mix and match different tie components with different collar components for a unique look. A third advantage is if your tie gets pulled on hard, or caught in a piece of equipment, it will separate from the collar component. A final advantage is that there is no extra loose end hanging down behind the front part of the tie as in a conventional tie, and so less material is used to produce the necktie of the invention.
As shown in
The collar component (1) has an elongated body which fits around a wearer's neck having an enlarged central area (5) where a knot would be in a conventional tie, and free ends (3) and (4), which preferably end in points as shown in the figures. The collar component (1) will fit under the shirt collar (9), with the central area (5) visible, as shown in
The free ends (3) and (4) have mating fasteners to allow the free ends to be adjustably fastened around a wearer's neck. In
As can be seen in
The fastener material (11) and (12) is preferably a hook-and-loop material such as Velcro®, but it will be understood that other separable fastener materials would be equally appropriate. Mating pieces of flat, flexible magnet would be appropriate as fasteners in addition to purely mechanical separable fastener material.
After the tie component (2) and the collar component (1) are connected, the collar straps (3) and (4) can be connected behind the neck.
The central portion (5) of the collar component (1) can be made flat as shown in
When connected, the tie component (2) and collar component (1) create a tie that looks like a normal necktie, but without the need of tying a knot. The lower portion (7) at least of tie component (2) can be made in a variety of colors and patterns, as shown in
a through 8g show how additional ornamentation can be incorporated into the necktie of the invention.
In
In similar fashion, other sports-oriented ornaments can be attached, such as a baseball, or a soccer ball or basketball, or a miniature football helmet, or other ornaments as might be desired. Alternatively, an ornament on a hunting theme, such as the deer head (23) as shown in
The same approach can be used, as shown in
For additional versatility, as shown in
Alternatively, if the collar component (1) is formed with fastener material on both sides of the central portion (5) as noted above, the bowtie (30) could even be combined with the tie component (2) at the same time.
With the existing style ties, you don't need a certain type of holder, just a bar or a post to hang them on. The necktie of the invention can be stored on a cylindrical type of rotating holder because of the shape of the necktie.
The holder comprises a cylindrical body (40) having a circumference similar to that of a neck. The holder can hang from a bracket (44) on a wall mount (42) which fastens to a wall or other vertical surface with screws (43) or similar fasteners. Alternatively, the cylindrical body (40) can be mounted upon a pipe (48) or other vertical support mounted up on a base (49).
Preferably, the coupling of the bracket (44) or pipe (48) and the body (40) will be any form of swivel which will allow the body (40) to rotate so a user can easily pick out the desired tie without fumbling through a pile of wrinkled ties.
A number of pegs (41) are mounted to or formed upon the surface of cylindrical body (40). At least one peg (41) per tie would be needed, however preferably at least two pegs (41) per tie are provided, arranged at intervals of 180° around a horizontal circumference of the cylinder as shown in the figures, which would reduce skewing of the tie which could occur if it were supported at only one point. Alternatively, even more pegs (41) could be provided—three pegs (41) at 120°, or four pegs (41) at 90°, etc. The pegs (41) can be arranged in a vertical row as shown in
When not in use, the neckties of the invention can be easily stored on the holder by wrapping collar portion (1) around the cylinder (40) and fastening the ends (3) and (4) as if they were around a neck. The neckties will be prevented from slipping down the cylinder (40) by the pegs (41). To remove a tie, a user simply peels apart the fasteners on the back of the collar component. The user may mix and match by removing any desired tie component (2) from its collar component (1) by separating the fasteners (11) and (12), and leaving the unused collar component (1) on the holder.
Accordingly, it is to be understood that the embodiments of the invention herein described are merely illustrative of the application of the principles of the invention. Reference herein to details of the illustrated embodiments is not intended to limit the scope of the claims, which themselves recite those features regarded as essential to the invention.
