GB2586830A - Improvements in transparent clothing - Google Patents

Abstract

A transparent necktie or similar garment comprises a transparent casing 1 for an internal sheet (figure 2). The casing is manipulated to change the tie from a closed to an open position. In the open position, as shown in figure 1, the internal sheet can be removed and replaced with a different sheet in order to display different patterns or artwork. In the closed position the internal sheet is securely contained within the casing. The tie may be secured to the user via an additional garment being by means of a clip or other securing means. The internal sheet may be cut to shape and size to be held securely by the casing. The casing may be made of a thin polymer which gives the appearance and feel of a tie made of a conventional cloth material. The casing may have a rear face which is hinged in relation to the front face and may be secured at the rear of the product in such a way that it can be easily opened and closed multiple times, e.g. through connecting means such as a secure tab 7 which is pulled through slot 10.

Description

Improvements in transparent clothing.

Field of Invention

The present invention relates to clothing which may be highly visible when worn conventionally, such as a necktie.

Background

The necktie commonly worn by men is falling in popularity and yet it is often chosen to best reflect the mood or personality of the wearer. It is an item that is most often commented on as it is largely unnecessary, so its use is there to convey something to those around. Ties have conventionally been made of a cloth from silk to polyester and can easily be spoilt if the wearer spills food down it. There have been novelty ties which have been made of polymer such as U5201313794379 which could contain liquids and U520080286629 or US 5,016,285 which contain or support novelties in order to personalise the tie. However, these do not seem to have become widely used and it was not easy to change the design.

Description of the present invention.

It is the intention of the present invention to provide a garment such as a necktie or scarf which being made out of a transparent material may be opened and closed to receive a form of thin medium, commonly paper, so that the wearer can create or buy inserts for the garment at a modest cost. The medium which maybe paper may be printed to show any design capable of being printed. The transparent material may also be thin, so that the assembly performs in a similar way to a regular cloth necktie. The present invention therefore maybe characterised as a carrier or casing for the medium which can be changed on a regular basis and can more precisely convey the mood or personality of the wearer. The shape of this tie may be conventional while the edges of the front face of the tie may flex around a hinge area and be opened by simple owner manipulation in order to remove one sheet of medium and replace it with another. The garment therefore, like its cloth predecessor, has a front and a back although this present invention will not be stitched together at the rear but will have at the distal edges a joining and retaining means such as an arrow head connection or interference tab which is capable of being deformed and as the polymer has a good material memory it will be easy to pull or push the tab through a slot wherein the tab deforms to a smaller size in order to pass through the slot but then returns to its original shape where the outer edges being wider than the slot resist extraction from the slot, unless force-ably manipulated by the user. There are a number of resistance based fixing systems which provide a simple connection and may be easily undone and redone by the user, such as buttons, Velcro, hook and eye, press-studs, while the illustrated embodiments show tabs which are easy to cut into the polymer sheet which forms the structure of the transparent carrier.

The garment, and for the sake of simplicity of description we will assume that it is a necktie, is intended to be worn by the user and there are a number of known connection methods. Currently there are what are known as dog collars, which are worn by vicars employed by churches. The present invention may be formed in such a way as to include a dog collar means for securing the tie to the collar area of a shirt, or it could be attached to a dog collar which is separate to the tie. Such fixing means could include a clip, Velcro and the other known methods which are used today to fix what is commonly known as clip on ties. The present invention could also be made with a strip which goes all the way around the neck and is connected to itself through the wide variety of known fixing systems referred to above.

It is a non-essential aspect of the present invention that the medium which is secured within the body of the tie be able to be printed by a printing machine commonly found in the home and connected to a personal computer. These printers are designed to print paper which is known as A4 being 210mm wide by 297mm long, while in the USA and other countries paper is produced to slightly different sizes. It will be understood that the present invention will almost certainly be longer than 297mnn so the tie shaped blank or outline may be created in two or more parts, so that they can be printed on a single sheet and then connected by a piece of Sellotape or other bonding substrate. Then the pieces may be laid into the receiving area of the transparent carrier so that the face which is to be seen is against the inside of the front face of the carrier to be the visible pattern, image, text created or purchased by the user. If the user or another producer of inserts is able to print larger sheets of paper then they may chose to do so and avoid the need for connecting the tie shape from two or more pieces. It will be understood that sticky back labels are sometimes used to convey information on clothing for a short period of time but this insert may be made on plain paper and avoid the additional cost and aggravation of a sticky material.

It is a particular advantage that a conventional necktie has the appearance of a small triangle, being the shape of the knot which is adjacent to the top button of the shirt being connected to the long portion which hangs down. This shape makes it easy to hang and retain the media insert within the transparent carrier as the upper triangle section will secure the media and prevent the media from slipping down.

Brief description of drawings.

An embodiment of the invention will now be described, by way of example only, and with reference to the accompanying drawings in which: Fig 1 is a front view of the transparent carrier in a flat and unfolded state Fig 2 is a front view of the medium insert Fig 3 is a front view of a connecting method including elastic or cord Fig 4 is a collar band fitted with Velcro Fig 5 is a rear view of the carrier in a partially folded condition Figure 6 is view of a further attaching method to a shirt top button Figure 7 is a rear view of the carrier ready to be worn Figure 8 is a further method of holding the carrier in a closed condition Figure 9 illustrates a possible layout for the blanks which may be printed on a standard A4 sheet of paper.

Detailed Description of Exemplary Embodiments

Figure 1 shows an embodiment of the present invention in a flat and unfolded condition with a view from the front 1. There is the front panel 2 comprising of the top area 3 which while being flat is the visual replica of the knot of a tie. Between area 3 and area 4 which is the main panel of the tie is area 5 which is less wide than 3 or 4 and therefore is capable of holding the paper medium which the casing is to retain and prevents it from falling down. Hinged onto panel 2 is panel 6 which here shows a fixing tab 7 of known type and this panel may be folded around hinge line 8. On the opposing side of panel 2 is panel 9 which shows a slot of know type 10. It will be understood that the tabs are pulled through the slots and are shaped to hold fast unless the user applies sufficient force to separate the panels which contain these or other resistance fixing means.

Figure 2 shows the front of the medium, such as paper, which may be printed 11. There is the knot area 12, reduced width area 13 and main panel 14. The whole of this panel can be printed on and for a very simple example there has been message 14a included.

Figure 3 shows a very simple fixing means of known type where there maybe tabs 15 on either side of upper area 3 and these could contain holes 16 through which cord which may be elasticated or non-stretchy and this material may be secured around the neck to secure the tie in a conventional position.

Figure 4 and 4a illustrates a band 18 which could be secured around the neck (not shown) with areas of Velcro 19. There may also be an area of Velcro 20 which the rear face of area 3 (see figure 1) which could also be supplied with Velcro and therefore could easily be attached to the band 18.

Figure 5 shows the rear of transparent carrier 1 with the rear panel 6 about to be folded over around line 8 while panel 9 has already been folded to meet the rear face of the medium panel 12 which has its front face resting on the rear face of panel 2. Also shown on figure 5 is an embodiment of a further attaching means 21. Here it is shown in its flat and non-functioning position.

Figure 6 shows a preferred embodiment of the method to attach the transparent polymer carrier to the shirt collar and the top button. This portion as shown in figure 5 and 7 may be cut in the same material as the rest of the carrier which will be very cost effective. Shown is partial collar band 21 which is produced in the same sheet as the rest of the carrier and is hinged to move through 180 degrees so that it can be attached to the top button of the shirt and allow the side tabs to provide additional locational security.

Figure 7 shows the rear of carrier 1 with all the parts previously described in place. Partial collar band in its function position where slot 22 is obscured by the shirts top button 24.

Figure 8 is a sectional view of an alternative arrangement to create a secure area for a sheet of medium. The carrier area illustrated is a portion of 2 shown facing upwards, for clarity the surface 2a will be the front. The rear panel is also shown and between these two panels is area 25 where the printed medium 11 may be held secure. The panel 9 is prevented from flapping open by the return leg 2b. As with the previous embodiments the user would be able to manipulate the material into a closed position and secure the media and with more force than would be found in regular use be able to pull the panels apart again in order to place a different sheet of medium in place.

Figure 9 is illustration of a blank or template which may help guide the user as to the size and shape of sheet 11 so that they can place the artwork they have created or imported in the correct place. It will be understood that the ideal media dimensions for this tie will be greater than A4 which is the standard size for most printers, small variations are found in some regions of the world. Therefore, the paper will need to be printed in more than one piece and then joined together by tape on the rear face of the sheet. Other bonding agents would also create a satisfactory outcome. The areas of the tie 14 and that which contains 12 and 13 may be shown on the paper 26 as the two parts which will be joined together after printing. The hatched sections 27 and 28 may advantageously be the overlap, to assist the user in joining the two pieces correctly. The outline of the printed sheet is in dotted lines as these may be perforated at the time of production to make it easier for the user to separate the portion of sheet they require to place inside the carrier.

The illustrated embodiment is of a conventional necktie which is most often worn by men. It is conceivable that women may also wish to have a similar product and enjoy the benefits of being able to have a joke message or pattern they are fond of on show. This application anticipates the need for a similar but more feminine shape being created, where the mechanics of opening and closing a transparent carrier for easy changing of a sheet of medium remains broadly the same.

There are wide range of transparent polymers from which the carrier could be made, the leading options would be rPET, Polypropylene and PVC. The printed medium is most commonly going to be paper while other thin materials may be used.

Claims (1)

1. Improvements in transparent clothing Claim 1.A neck tie or similar garment that may be worn on the upper body comprising: A transparent casing for an internal sheet, which may be manipulated from an open to a closed position, where in the closed position it securely contains the internal sheet A internal sheet which may be printed Claim 2. A transparent casing as claim 1 made in a thin polymer which gives the appearance and feel of a tie or similar garment made in a conventional cloth material.Claim 3. A transparent casing as in previous claims which provides a rear face which is hinged in relation to the font face and may be secured advantageously at the rear of the product in such a way that it can be easily opened and closed multiple times.Claim 4 A transparent case as in claim 3 where the rear face may be formed so that the the rear of the printed sheet is protected. The panels of the rear of the carrier come together and are secured by the user through connecting means such as secure tab or other securing means which when pulled through a slot is not easily separated Claim 5 a transparent carrier as in previous claims which may be secured to the person via an additional garment being worn by the person by means of a clip or other securing means.Claim 6 a transparent carrier as in previous claims where the securing means to the shirt of similar garment is made as one piece with the rest of the transparent material Claim 7 an internal sheet according to claim 1 which may be cut to as shape and size as to be held securely in the carrier.Claim 8 an internal sheet according to claim 6 which provides a blank or template which may be printed by a user, where if the size of the sheet is less than the required size of the blank, that the sheet may be printed in two or more parts and joined together to give the appearance of a single sheet Claim 9 a template according to claim 6 and 7 which may be printed on a single sheet of paper the size of which may be available to anyone owning a printer commonly used in association with a personal computer at the home or within a working environment Claim 10 a method according to previous claims where a user creates art work or type setting to print on the template and then inserts the sheet into the carrier and wears the combined assembly as a garment in such a way as to show the printing to those around them.