April 28, 1959 l. PRATT 2,883,670

I SCARF Filed April 19. 1957' I INVENTQR.

[M 22 ZZZ/Y7 Fra 7% United States Patent SCARF Inga Pratt, Highlands, NJ.

Application April 19, 1957, Serial No. 653,777

3 Claims. (Cl. 2-207) This invention relates generally to articles of clothing, and has particular reference to an improved scarf of the type commonly employed by women as an informal head covering.

A scarf of the character to which the invention pertains is formed of a rectangular piece of woven fabric, usually square in shape and composed of colorfully printed or otherwise ornamented material. A square scarf of this kind is adapted to be folded upon itself along a diagonal and to be worn on the head with the fold forward and the the ends tied beneath the chin. Although woven fabric is inherently stretchable along an oblique direction, it has very little elasticity, and the resilient force tending to restore the fabric to its initial unstretched condition is inadequate to hold the ordinary scarf upon the head of a wearer, especially in the wind. This shortcoming manifests itself to even greater disadvantage when the scarf is composed of relatively slippery material such as satin. Various expedients have heretofore been proposed to overcome this difficulty, but they have not been successfu l and they usually involve relatively bulky and unsightly additions to the scarf.

It is a general object of this invention to provide an improved scarf that will cling more effectively to the head of the wearer. A more particular object of the invention is to achieve this result Without recourse to relatively heavy and unattractive attachments, and, to the contrary, to impart the desired characteristics to the scarf by the employment, in a special way, of a relatively simple element that is secured to the scarf so inconspicuously that its presence is wholly undetectable when the scarf is worn.

Whereas prior attempts to solve the problem have involved straps and other elements of non-stretchable character intended to rigidify the folded front edge of the scarf and thus prevent it from billowing and becoming displaced, this invention is predicated upon the discovery that the scarf can be caused to cling to the head by enhancing, rather than reducing, its elasticity along the folded diagonal. In brief, the characterizing feature of the present improvement lies in securing a readily stretchable elastic element to the square of fabric along the diagonal which defines the front edge of the scarf when it is Worn, the elastic element having a resilient force greater than that which is inherent in the fabric. In this way, a stretching of the elastic element when the scarf is Worn Will cause the folded front edge of the scarf to cling to the head in a highly effective manner.

The elastic element employed is preferably a thread of such small cross-sectional dimensions that its presence is visually undetectable when the scarf is folded along the diagonal to enfold the thread. Also, in the preferred embodiment of the invention, the elastic element is shorter than the diagonal along which it is secured, so that its ends extend into the tying region but not beyond. In this way the ends of the scarf, when it is worn, do not reveal the presence of the elastic element.

One way of achieving these objects and advantages, and such other benefits as may hereinafter appear or be pointed out, is illustratively exemplified in the accompanying drawings, in which Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a scarf embodying the improvements of the present invention;

Fig. 2 is a fragmentary enlarged and exaggerated view, showing one form of interengagement between the special elastic element and the body of the scarf;

Fig. 3 is a top view of the scarf as it is engaged and manipulated by the wearer during its application to the head; and

Fig. 4 is a perspective view of the scarf as it appears when worn, a fragment having been broken away to reveal the elastic thread.

The scarf 10 may be of any suitable or desired material, preferably a printed or otherwise ornamented square of fine fabric. Usually a scarf of conventional type is ap proximately 30" along each side.

Extending along a diagonal, is a centered disposition with respect to the opposite tying ends 11 and 12, is an elastic thread 13. This thread has a length Which brings its ends into the tying region 14 (see Fig. 4), but not beyond. In a scarf approximately 30" square, the thread 13 may have a length of the order of 21 or 22".

The thread 13 is of extremely small cross-section, but high elasticity. In securing it to the scarf, it is laid in unstretched condition upon the scarf material, its opposite ends are anchored to the fabric, and it is then tacked down as inconspicuously as possible. One way of accomplishing this result is to extend a fine holding thread 15 through the fabric and around the thread 13 in a succession of loops, although other expedients may be employed for this purpose. For example, individual thread lengths may be formed into loops at spaced intervals, the ends being knotted together. To anchor the ends of the elastic thread 13, any inconspicuous but adequately strong anchoring expedient may be resorted to. Merely for illustrative purposes I have shown in Fig. 2 how the end of the thread 13 may be passed through the fabric and then knotted upon itself as indicated at 16.

The thread 13 and the scarf material 10 are secured together while each is completely unstretched. Accordingly, the presence of the elastic element 13 does not manifest itself in the ordinary unstretched condition of the scarf, and there is no puckering or other undesirable distortion of the square of material. In applying the scarf to the head, the corners 17 and 18 of the scarf are brought together to fold the scarf along the diagonal between the tying ends 11 and 12. The scarf is folded so as to position the thread 13 on the inside, as indicated in Fig. 4. In this condition of the scarf the presence of the thread 13 is completely undetectable, especially if the holding thread 15 is of a coloration that merges or blends with the coloration or other design of the scarf itself. The wearer stretches the folded scarf along the diagonal fold, as indicated in Fig. 3, and ties the ends 11 and 12 beneath the chin, as shown in Fig. 4. This establishes a stretched condition within the thread 13, and its high elasticity results in a pulling together of the opposite anchored ends of the element 13, whereby the scarf is caused to cling resiliently to the head. It has been found that the scarf remains neatly in position even in real windy weather, and regardless of the nature of the material of which the scarf is made.

While I have shown a preferred construction in which the elastic thread is applied and secured to the scarf after the scarf itself has been completely manufactured, it will be understood that the benefits of the invention might also be achieved by incorporating the elastic thread with the scarf material in other ways. It is important, however, that the elastic element be of small cross-sectional dimensions, readily stretchable, and having a resilient force greater than that which is inherent in the fabric of which the scarf is made. It is this resilient force of the stretchable element that manifests itself when the scarf is Worn in the contemplated manner, to cause the folded front edge of the scarf to cling to the head of the wearer.

Obviously, elastic threads or equivalent elements of various kinds may be employed, and the degree of elasticity in any given case will be chosen with due regard to the nature of the material of which the scarf is made. Under certain circumstances, a thread of high stretchability and elasticity will be preferred; in other cases a lesser degree of elasticity will be desirable.

It will be understood that many of the details herein described and illustrated may be modified by those skilled in the art without necessarily departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as expressed in the appended claims.

Having thus described my invention and illustrated its use, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. A scarf comprising a square of woven fabric having inherent stretchability and resilience and adapted to be folded upon itself along a diagonal and to be worn on the head with the fold forward and the ends tied beneath the chin, and a readily stretchable elastic element secured to said square along said diagonal, said element being of a length to extend at least into the tying region, said element being unstretched when the fabric is in normal unstretched condition, and said element having a resilient force greater than that inherent in the fabric whereby a stretching of the element when the scarf is Worn will cause the folded front edge of the scarf to cling to the head.

2. A scarf as defined in claim 1, said elastic element being shorter than the diagonal along which it is secured so that its ends extend into the tying region but not beyond, whereby the ends of the scarf when it is worn with the elastic element on the inside of said fold do not re veal the presence of said elastic element.

3. A scarf as defined in claim 2, said elastic element comprising a thread of such small cross-sectional dimensions that its presence is visually undetectable when the scarf is folded along said diagonal to enfold said thread.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,199,427 Dohen May 7, 1940 2,804,628 Marcellus Sept. 3, 1957 FOREIGN PATENTS 212,849 Switzerland June 3, 1941