US3046562A

US3046562A - Shirt collar

Info

Publication number: US3046562A
Application number: US743669A
Authority: US
Inventors: Anthony I Bellanti
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1958-06-23
Filing date: 1958-06-23
Publication date: 1962-07-31
Anticipated expiration: 1979-07-31

Description

July 31, 1962 A. l. BELLANTI SHIRT COLLAR Filed June 23, 1958 INVENTOR.

BY Awfzow l 54hr A Iforncy 3,046,562 SHIRT COLLAR Anthony H. Bellanti, 2084 N. Summit Ave, Milwaukee 2, Wis. Filed June 23, 1958, Ser. No. 743,669 1 Claim. (Cl. 2132) This invention relates generally to shirt collars and more particularly to an improved shirt collar having a removable stiffener member for maintaining the shape of the collar.

Mens dress shirts with attached soft collars have been accepted, practically to the exclusion of other types of dress shirts, because they are comfortable to the wearer. A disadvantage of this type of shirt lies in the fact that the shoft collar fails to maintain its shape since it curls and wrinkles after a relatively short period of use despite the fact that they may be starched to stiffen them. Various types of stays have been devised for attachment to the collar to alleviate this problem. However, they are not entirely adequate because they are applied to the two ends of the collar and are not adequately supported themselves to prevent the collar from curling outwardly while failing to extend sufiiciently along the collar to avoid wrinkling along the sides of the wearers neck. Furthermore, such stays are of a relatively narrow width, and as the rearward portion'of the collar begins to wilt the presence of the stays at the extremities of the collar becomes apparent.

It is therefore a general object of the present invention to provide a shirt collar with an improved arrangement for maintaining its neat appearance even after prolonged use.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a shirt collar with stiffener members that function to maintain a neat appearance through the entire length of the collar. I

Another object of the present invention is to provide a shirt collar with stiffener members that are retained in position by the conventional collar elements without requiring additional pockets or pins that puncture the material of the collar.

Another object is to provide a shirt collar with stiffener members that retain the lapel portion of the collar fiat against the shirt.

Another object is to provide a shirt collar with stiffener members that are firmly supported by the neck band of the collar to improve their efficiency in maintaining the neat appearance of the lapel portion of the collar.

Another object is to provide a shirt collar with im-. proved stiffener members which will not be outlined by the material of the collar so that their presence will not be noticeable along the exterior of the collar.

A further object is to provide an improved shirt collar with stiffener members of simple and inexpensive construction but which will efiiciently maintain a neat appearance even under severe conditions of wear.

According to this invention the improved shirt collar comprises the conventional neck band and lapel portion formed of two plies of cloth with the inner ply serving as a lining for the collar, the two plies being sewed together about the edges of the collar. The lapel portion is folded downwardly over the neck band to form a crease at the juncture of the neck band and the lapel. slit at the crease from both ends of the collar toward the center of the collar or toward the back of the wearers neck to provide an opening for admitting a stiffener member at each end of the collar; The stiffener members are disposed between the two plies of cloth and each likewise includes a neck band portion and alapel portion. Thelapel portion of each stiffener is folded over the neck band'portion in overlying relationship toforrn a crease at the junction of the neck band portion and the lapel portion with the material of the stiffener being The lining is:

3,046,562 Patented July 31, 1962 stressed to maintain the lapel portion flat against the neck band portion.

The lapel portion of the stiffeners are. inserted to lie. between the two plies of cloth at each end of the lapel of the collar and is shaped to conform to the configuration of the collar so that it serves as a support to maintain the shape of the collar. The lapel portion of the stiifeners extend rearwardly from the extremities of the collar approximately twenty-five percent of the length of the collar so that about fifty percent ofthe collar is supported by the stilfeners along the area which is subject to wilting after use. The neck band portion of the stiffeners are inserted between the two plies of cloth at the neck band of the collar to support the stiifeners in the collar and to maintain the lapel portion of the collar flat against the neck band of the collar in overlying relationship to maintaining the neat appearance of the collar even under severe conditions of use.

The foregoing and other objects of the invention, which will become more apparent from the following detailed specification setting forth an illustrative embodiment, may

being shown in its unfolded position to illustrate its in-' terior'surface with the lining being broken away to reveal the outer ply of cloth; and

FIGURE 3 is a perspective view of the stiffener member in the unfolded position and which is shown in FIG- URE I inserted between the two plies of cloth at both ends of the collar.

Reference is now made more particularly to the drawings and specifically to FIGS. 1 and 2 thereof which illustrate a shirt collar incorporating the features of the pres-' ent invention. In the illustrated embodiment the collar is shown attached to a shirt 11 and comprises a neck band. 12 and a lapel portion 13 with the neck band 12 being sewed to'the shirt 11 for permanent attachment thereto.

The neck band 12 is worn against the neck of the wearer and is therefore firmly supported while the lapel 13 is folded downwardly to form a crease 14, the lapel 1 3'being the decorative portion of the collar which is exposed to view and must be neatly maintained. In order to'present the proper appearance, the lapel 13 must be' 7 kept free of wrinkles and must lie flat against the neck band 12 and shirt 11. The lapel 13 is substantially wider than the neck band 12 and therefore extends beyond theedge of the neck band onto the body of the shirt ll. Due to the perspiration of the wearer and his normal body movements, the lapel 13 begins to wilt after a short period of use andtends to curl outwardly from its points 15 rearwardly along approximately the forward one half of the collar. The rear portion of the lapel is held more tightly against the neck of the wearer and therefore does not lose its fresh appearance. as rapidly.- Furthermore, since the rear portion of the collar is disposed along the back of the .neck and is frequently covered by a jacket its appearance is not as important as is the forward portion of the collar which is visible when facing the wearer. The present invention therefore provides a pair of stiffener members generally identified by the reference numeral 20,- One of which is shown in FIG- URE 3. Each'stiffener member 20 extends'from' one end of the collar rearwardly along approximately 25 percent of the length of the collar so that the entirefor Ward one half of the collar is firmly supported by the stiffener members 20 which serve to prevent the wrinkling of the collar and overcome its tendency to curl outwardly while at the same time holding it fiat against the neck band 12 and body of the shirt 11.

Shirt collars are conventionally constructed of two plies of cloth 21 and 22 as clearly shown in FIGURE 2 with the inner ply 21 serving as a lining for the outer ply 22. The view in FIGURE 2 illustrates the inner ply or lining side of the collar but the lining has been shown broken away to reveal the outer ply of cloth which is exposed to view when the collar is worn. The two plies of cloth 21 and 22 are sewed together by stitching 23 that extends along the entire edge of the collar there being no stitching at the juncture of the neck band with the lapel so that the area between the edges of the collar is free of any stitching. This fact is taken advantage of in the present invention by arranging the stiffener member 20 so that it occupies the neck band 12 as well as the lapel 13 of the collar between the two plies of cloth 21 and 22 so that it is itself very firmly supported by the collar and will function very efliciently to maintain the neat appearance of the collar.

In order to provide access for the stiffener member 20, the inner ply of cloth or lining 21 is cut to form a slit 25 along the crease 14 and which extends from a point adjacent to each extremity of the crease 14 rearwardly along approximately 25 percent of the length of the collar. The stiifener member 20 includes a neck band portion 26 and a lapel portion 27 in conformance with the construction of the collar. The stifi'ener member 20 is fabricated of a semi-rigid but pliable material such as, for example, Celluloid or other suitable plastic material so that it will maintain its shape under all conditions to which it will be subjected in normal use but will readily assume an arcuate shape along its length in accordance with the path of the collar While being worn around the neck of the wearer.

In order to place the stiffener member 20 in position between the two plies of cloth 21 and 22 of the collar, it is inserted between the two plies of cloth through the slit 25 with the neck band portion 26 of the stiffener member 20 occupying the space along the neck band 12 and the lapel portio 27 of the stiffener member 20 occupying the space along the lapel portion 13 of the collar. It will be observed in the drawings that the width of both ends of the lapel portion 13 are increased to form the points and the lapel portion 27 of each of the stiffener members is shaped accordingly to form a point 28. The stiifener member 20 is therefore inserted into the collar so that the point 28 of its lapel portion 27 will extend forwardly into the collar against the stitching 23 at the point 15 of the lapel 13 of the collar. From the point 28 the lapel portion 27 of the stiffener member 20 it is gradually reduced in width to conform to the configuration of the lapel portion 13 of the collar so that its outer edge will lie along the stitching 23 and its inner edge will extend along the crease 14. Furthermore, each of the stiffener members 20 extends rearwardly from the extremity of the collar at the point 15 along approximately twenty five percent of its length to occupy the entire area of the forward one half of the lapel 13 to firmly support it.

The stiffener member 20 is folded along a crease 35 that is formed along the juncture of the neck band portion 26 and the lapel portion 27 with breaks 36 being provided at both ends of the crease 35 to facilitate the insertion of the stiffener member 20 between the two plies of cloth 21 and 22. The lapel portion 27 may therefore be folded downwardly to lie against the neck band portion 26 and the material of the stiffener member 20 is preferably stressed along the crease 35 by heat to form a spring effect which tends to urge the lapel portion 27 against the neck band portion 26. With this arrangement, the neck band portion 26 will be firmly supported within the neck band 12 of the collar and the lapel portion 27 will be urged toward the neck band portion 26 to retain its associated lapel 13 lying flat against the body of the shirt 11.

Since the lapel portion 27 of each stiffener member 20 occupies the entire area within the lapel 13 of the collar from the stitching 23 to the crease 14 and extends rearwardly approximately twenty five percent of the length of the lapel 13 it will not permit the forward portion of the lapel 13 to wilt or curl and the outer ply 22 of cloth will not outline the stiffener member 20 so that its presence will not be noticeable. Furthermore, the spring eff-r t tending to urge the lapel portion 27 of the stiffener member 23 to lie flat against the neck band portion 26 will serve to maintain the lapel 13 of the collar lying flat against the body of the shirt 11. Thus, the neat and fresh appearance of the collar will be maintained even under prolonged and severe conditions of use with the perspiration and normal bodily movements having no effect on its appearance. The stiffener member 20 may be readily removed through the slit 25 for laundering purposes and may be conveniently reinserted when the shirt is ready to be worn. It will be noticed that no special pockets are required to be added to the conventional collar, it only being necessary to modify the collar by forming the slit 25 to provide an access for the stiffener member 29. The stiffener member 20 cannot slide backwardly in the collar because its point 28 occupies the point 15 of the lapel 13 cf the collar and therefore cannot move rearwardly toward the narrower width of the lapel 13.

Although the illustrative embodiment of the present invention has been described in considerable detail for the purpose of making a full disclosure of a practical operative arrangement by means of which the invention may be practiced, it is to be understood that the various novel features of the invention may be incorporated in other arrangements without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as defined in the subjoined claim.

The principles of the invention having now been fully explained in connection with the foregoing description of the illustrative embodiments, the invention is hereby claimed as follows:

In a shirt collar formed of cloth and having a neck band and a lapel with the lapel being folded over the neck band to form a crease at the juncture of the neck band with the lapel, the lapel being widened at its ends to form a decorative corner; a lining attached to the cloth of the collar by stitching along the edges of the collar and being creased in conformance with the crease in the cloth of the collar, said lining having a slit formed along its crease at both ends of the collar; a pair of stiffener members adapted to be inserted through the slits to be disposed between said lining and the cloth of the collar with one stiffener member being located at each end of the collar, each of said stiffener members comprising; a neck band portion conforming in height and shape to the configuration of the neck band of the collar and adapted to be located along the neck band of the collar between said lining and the collar cloth; and a lapel portion attached to said neck band portion along the central portion of their juncture, the end portions of the lapel and neck band portions being disconnected, with the lapel portion being folded downwardly along a crease formed at the juncture of said neck band portion with said lapel portion, the length of the juncture between the lapel and neck band portions being less than the length of the slit in the lining to facilitate the insertion and removal of the stiffener from the collar, said lapel portion having a widened end to form a corner in conformance with the configuration of the lapel corner and extending from the end of the collar rearwardly along the front of the collar to a point near the side of the collar.

(References on following page) References Cited in Ihfi file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Gould Feb. 20, 1900 Gould July 17, 1900 Renihan Apr. 24, 1917 6 Salerno Apr. 19, 1921 Gross Jan. 17, 1922 Kass Mar. 8, 1938 Tos July 11, 1939 Les Feb. 26, 1952