WO2014027166A1

WO2014027166A1 - Seal for apparel

Info

Publication number: WO2014027166A1
Application number: PCT/GB2012/052540
Authority: WO
Inventors: Brian Walker
Original assignee: Linhope International S.A.; Jehan, Robert
Priority date: 2012-08-17
Filing date: 2012-10-12
Publication date: 2014-02-20
Also published as: GB2506107A; GB201214723D0

Abstract

A seal (20) is fitted to an article of clothing such as a dress (110) and acts as an indicator of usage of the article (110). The seal (20) includes a strap (22) which wraps around a major portion of the article (110) and in particular across an outer surface of the article (11) and through an interior element of the article (110). The strap (22) includes first and second ends (24, 26) which are permanently fixed to one another by a fixing element (28). The seal (20) allows a customer to wear the item (110) for the purposes of trial only but presents a significant visual indicator intended to dissuade a customer from wearing the article as his/her own. The seal (20) can be cut or otherwise broken for its removal once the customer has decided to keep the article (110).

Description

SEAL FOR APPAREL

Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to a seal for apparel in particular useful for indicating usage of apparel, as well as to an item of apparel provided with such a seal . The term apparel as used herein is intended to include items such as clothing or garments, items of jewellery, bags and other personal apparel. The invention also provides a method of sealing apparel . Background of the Invention

It is common practice and in many countries a legal requirement for retail sellers to accept from a customer the return of an item purchased by the customer, for the sole reason that the item is not suitable or unwanted by the customer.

Some items can be sold either in a sealed package or with some other seal which prevents usage of the item without breakage of the seal and which thus helps in ensuring that the item has not been used prior to its return. However, it is not always possible to provide such seals for all types of article, as in many cases it is important for the customer to have full access to the article to be able to assess it. This is particularly the case with clothing, jewellery, bags and other such items of personal apparel. It is often not possible for a customer to be able to evaluate such items fully in the confines of a shop, the problems being exacerbated when the sale is made remotely such as through the Internet. It is thus important to be able to allow the customer to try on such items of apparel in the privacy of their own homes and still to give them the opportunity of returning the items if they are unsuitable.

The problem, though, is that a significant percentage of customers who return items do so after having worn the item. This causes the retailer significant problems. Often, either as a result of doubt or wish not to enter into a dispute with the customer, the retailer accepts the item in return, giving the customer a full refund of the moneys paid, even if there are signs of wear or soiling. Those items then become unsellable as new and either have to be discarded or sold at a fraction of their value as new. In order to seek to mitigate this problem, retailers will often require the item to be returned with the original labels still intact. However, this does not resolve the issue of wear of the item prior to its return, largely due to the fact that such labels are small and designed to be able to be hidden inside the garment while the customer tries the garment. For this reason it is impracticable to make larger labels. Thus, a customer is still able to wear the garment or use the article and then return it as unwanted.

This problem causes significant loss to retailers. Summary of the Invention

The present invention seeks to provide a seal for indicating whether apparel has been used and to an item of apparel provided with such a seal, the seal allowing the item of apparel to be fully tried on by a customer.

According to an aspect of the present invention, there is provided a seal for apparel including a strap of material having first and second ends and a

permanent fixing element for fixing the first and second ends together. The fixing element may be a suture, a bonding material but in the preferred embodiment is a rivet or other fastener which cannot be opened without breaking the fastener.

It is envisaged the strap would have a width of 10 cm or less, although it is not excluded that it could be wider than 10 cm. In most instances, it is preferable for the strap to have a width of 5 centimetres at most and in one example a width in the range of about 0.2 centimetres to around 5.0 centimetres, preferably about 0.5 centimetres to around 2.5 centimetres, more preferably of at least 1 .0 centimetres to 2.5 centimetres.

It will be appreciated that the length of the strap will be dependent upon the item of apparel which is to be secured by the strap and the manner in which it is desired to feed the strap through the item. In general, the strap will have a length of at least 24 centimetres to around 180 centimetres, in particular a length of at least 24 centimetres for a seal used for jewellery, a length of at least 120

centimetres for a seal used for items of clothing, a length of at least 80 centimetres for a seal used for bags and the like. In some embodiments, the strap may have a maximum length of around 30 centimetres for a seal used for jewellery, around 250 centimetres for a seal used for items of clothing, 80 centimetres for a seal used for bags and the like. A long garment such as floor length gown or overcoat may have a longer strap.

The advantages of a strap of such dimensions will become apparent from a reading of the specific description which follows.

Advantageously, the strap is white or coloured, most preferably brightly coloured. The strap may be fluorescent.

The fixing element is preferably a non-openable rivet, advantageously including a proprietary indicator, which may be in the form of a trade mark or symbol provided on or in the rivet, for instance by printing, embossing, engraving, stamping and the like.

The strap of the seal is preferably made of a flexible compliant material, most preferably of a soft material. In one embodiment the strap is made of a woven material but in other embodiments it may be made of a flexible sheet.

The strap may be provided with proprietary, warning or other indicators, preferably in text form.

According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided an item of apparel including a seal provided with a strap of material having first and second ends and a permanent fixing element for fixing the first and second ends together, the strap of the seal being wrapped around a part of the item of apparel and extending over at least one externally visible part thereof.

Advantageously, the seal is of a contrasting colour to the colour of the item of apparel.

In the preferred embodiment, the strap of the seal passes through an opening of the item of apparel, such as a sleeve, neck opening or the like.

According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method of securing an item of apparel against unauthorised use, including the steps of:

providing a seal including a strap of material having first and second ends; wrapping the strap of the seal around a part of the item of apparel and extending over at least one externally visible part thereof; and fixing the ends of the strap together by means of a permanent fixing element.

The seal may have any or all of the characteristics disclosed herein. In particular, as mentioned above, the strap is preferably made of a flexible compliant material, most preferably of a soft material. The strap may be made of a woven material but in other embodiments it may be made of a flexible sheet.

The seal and method disclosed herein provide a way of securing articles, such as clothing, jewellery and so on, against unauthorised use, for example after purchase but within a period of time during which the article may be returned to the seller for refund. The strap allows the user to try on the article, the strap's flexibility providing no real impingement upon the user's ability to assess its suitability. Yet, the strap, being highly visible, prevents usage of the article without the strap showing, thereby preventing the user from using the article as theirs and then returning it to the seller as if unused.

It is preferred that the strap is of a contrasting colour to the article, thereby emphasising its presence. In some embodiments the strap of the seal may be provided with proprietary markings, such as the name of the retailer of article supplier, messages to the effect that the strap is a security strap and so on.

Once the user has decided to keep the article, the seal can be broken, either by pulling apart the fixing element or by cutting the strap. Once that has been done, the seller can choose not to accept the discretionary return of the article.

Brief Description of the Drawings

Embodiments of the present invention are described below, by way of example only, with reference to and as illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which:

Figure 1 is a schematic drawing of a lady's dress having an embodiment of seal as taught herein affixed thereto;

Figure 2 is a schematic drawing of a another example of lady's dress having an embodiment of seal as taught herein affixed thereto; Figure 3 is a schematic drawing of a another example of lady's dress having two seals as taught herein affixed thereto;

Figure 4 is an enlarged view of a portion of the dress of Figure 3 showing in better detail one of the seals;

Figure 5 is a schematic drawing of a bangle having an embodiment of seal as taught herein affixed thereto; and

Figure 6 shows an embodiment of security seal with and example of possible warning markings. Description of the Preferred Embodiments

It is to be understood that the drawings are schematic and are not to scale. Referring to Figure 1 , there is shown in schematic form an example of a ladies dress having an embodiment of seal as taught herein affixed thereto.

The dress 10, which may be of any design, in this example as a one-piece item of clothing. The dress 10 includes a head opening 12, arm openings 14, 16 and a leg opening 18.

Attached to the garment 10 is a seal 20 according to the teachings herein. The seal 20 is formed of a strap 22 of flexible and preferably soft material having first and second ends 24, 26 which are secured to one another by a permanent fixing element, shown in further detail in the embodiments of Figures 3 to 5. The strap 22 is preferably of a woven construction, although in other embodiments may be made of sheet material. It is preferred that the strap of flat construction but in some embodiments it could be made of rope or cord. The strap 22 could be made of any suitable material, be it a natural material such as cotton, or a manmade material such as a plastics material.

It is envisaged the strap would have a width of 10 cm or less, although it is not excluded that it could be wider than 10 cm. In most instances, it is preferable for the strap to have a width of 5 centimetres at most and in one example a width in the range of about 0.2 centimetres to around 5 centimetres, preferably about 0.5 centimetres to around 2.5 centimetres, more preferably of at least 1 .0 centimetres to 2.0 centimetres. In the majority of embodiments the strap preferably has a width of at least 1 .5 centimetres. The strap 22 is of a colour which contrasts the colour of the dress 10 or at least the predominant colour of the dress. Thus, the strap 22 is immediately visible when attached to the dress 10. For this purpose, the strap 22 may be white or any other colour and in some embodiments may be black for a dress 10 of light or otherwise colourful material. In some embodiments, the strap 22 may be fluorescent. One example is bright or fluorescent pink.

As can be seen in Figure 1 , the strap 22 wraps around a major portion of the dress 10 and in particular passes through the inside of the dress 10, through sleeve opening 16 and the opening 18 at the bottom of the dress and then directly on the outside of the dress, as can be seen in Figure 1 . The location of the ends 24, 26 of the strap 22 is not material as these could be located on the inside of the dress rather than on the outside as shown. The strap 22 is not attached to the dress 10 but is a separate component which can therefore be removed from the dress 10, by breaking the seal 20 (either fixing element or the strap 22, as described in further detail below).

Figure 2 shows another embodiment of the dress 1 10 of different design to the dress 10 of Figure 1 . In this case, the strap 22 of the seal 20 passes into the inside of the dress 1 10 via the neck opening 1 12 and out again via the leg opening 1 18. The seal 20 is therefore visible at the front of the dress, rather than at the side of the dress as in the example of Figure 1 . In the view of Figure 2, the first and second ends 24, 26 and fixing element of the seal 20 are not visible, being in this example located at the inside of the dress 1 10.

Referring now to Figure 3, the embodiment of dress 210 shown has a more complex structure to the dresses shown in Figures 1 and 2, having a double shoulder strap 220, 222 at each shoulder of the dress 210. The dress also includes waist openings 224 within the dress. In this example, there are provided two seals 20, the first wrapping around one of the double shoulder strap arrangements 220, 222, while the second seal 20 wraps through the neck portion 212 and one of the waist openings 224. In this example, therefore, the dress 210 includes two seals 20 for added security.

Figure 4 shows an enlarged view of the double shoulder strap arrangement 220, 222 of the example of dress 210 of Figure 3. The strap 22 of the seal 24, in this example, wraps around one of the shoulder straps 222 and then passes either inside or outside of the second shoulder strap 220. The enlarged view of Figure 4 also shows the permanent fixing element 28, which in the preferred embodiment is a non-openable rivet but which in other embodiments could be a non-openable clasp, a suture, a permanent bond or the like. A rivet 28 is a preferred form of fixing element but this is easy to fix to the strap 22, provides a clear indication of sealing of the strap 22 and thus of the dress or other article and provides reliable evidence of tampering. By non-opening it is meant that the fixing element is not releasable apart from by being broken.

The fixing element 28 may be provided with an indicator 30, for example a trade mark, logo or other proprietary indicator, which may be printed, embossed, engraved or stamped on the fixing element 28. In this embodiment, the strap 22 is also provided with indicators 32, which may again be include a trade mark or logo, and which in the preferred embodiment include warnings, preferably in written form. Warnings may indicate the purpose of the seal 20 and that if this is broken or opened then the article will no longer be necessarily accepted for return by the retailer.

Figure 5 shows another example of usage of the seal 20, in this case to provide a seal for a bangle or bracelet. As will be apparent in Figure 5, the strap 22 is looped through the annulus of the bangle 300 and the strap ends 24, 26 are sealed together by fixing element 28.

Referring now to Figure 6, this shows an example of the warning markings which may be printed onto or woven into the strap 22. In this example, the strap 22 is provided with clear warnings that the article will be returnable only with the strap in place and undamaged. As explained above, the strap 22 may also include proprietary trade marks as an indication of the origin of the goods and/or of the seller. The markings could be provided on a single side of the strap 22 or on both sides.

The seal 20 may be affixed to the article by the manufacturer or supplier of the article but may equally be affixed to the article by the retail establishment, such as the shop or online retailer. For this purpose, the indicators 30, 32 on the seal 20 may indicate proprietorship based upon the origin of manufacturer or supplier, that is brand, of the article itself or of the details of the end seller of the article (shop or internet retailer for instance). It will be appreciated that any indicators relating to the manufacturer can be useful in establishing the origin and

genuineness of the article, while any markings indicating the details of the retailer can be useful in establishing whether the article was purchased from that retailer rather than any other retailer. Of course, in this regard the markings 30, 32 could indicate both the origin of the article, that is manufacturer or brand owner, as well as of the retailer.

Thus, as explained above, the seal 20 can be fitted to the article at the point of manufacture, at the point of distribution or by the retail outlet. The seal 20 remains in place even after the sale of the article to a customer and it is intended that the responsibility for removing the seal is left with the customer. The construction of the seal 20, in particular the strap 22, enables the article to be worn by the customer without noticeably impinging upon the customer's ability to assess the suitability of the article without noticeable discomfort. In this regard, the flexibility and softness of the strap 22 will enable this to change shape for the comfort of the customer. However, at least a major part of the strap (typically 50% or so) will remain visible from the exterior of the garment or other article when this is worn. The visibility of the seal 20 and the inability of the customer to hide this readily will make it difficult for the customer to wear the article as their own with the seal 20 in place. This can therefore substantially avoid or prevent the risk of the customer using the article and then returning it to the seller as if it has not been used.

It is preferred that the seal 20 is disposed around the article in such a way that it remains visible over a major portion of the article, such as along a

substantial part of the entire length of the article as shown in the examples of Figures 1 and 2. Where this is not practicable or preferred, a plurality of seals 20 can be used, for example as shown in the embodiment of Figure 3.

Once the customer is satisfied with the article, the seal 20 can be removed, by cutting through the strap 22 or by breaking the fixing element 28. Once the seal is broken, the seller may refuse to accept the return of the article as unused or unwanted. This can be achieved, it will be appreciated, without denying the customer the full opportunity to assess the suitability of the article in the same manner as with articles not having such a seal.

It is to be appreciated that the seal 20 could be disposed around a plurality of articles, such as a set of bangles or rings or around two items of clothing to be worn together, for instance.

It is envisaged that the seal could be fitted by the manufacturer of the article but it is equally envisaged that this may be fitted by an entity further down the supply chain, for example a distributor or even retail outlet. For this purpose, the seal 20 could be provided in kit form, with a supply of strap material 22, a supply of fixing elements 28 and, preferably a tool for attaching the fixing elements 28 to the strap 20. In the case where the fixing elements are rivets, the tool would thus be a rivet tool. The tool may simply be designed to attach the fixing element 28 to the strap but it may also be designed to apply to the fixing element a marking such as an indentation in the form of a trade or other identification mark. In the case of a rivet this may be by means of a suitable pattern on the rivet head(s). The strap 22, which would be pre-printed as described above, could be supplied on a spool, with desired lengths of strap cut by the user prior to fixing to the item to be secured.

It will be appreciated that described above are preferred embodiments of the present invention and that modifications may be made to these within the scope of the appended claims. The contents of the abstract accompanying this application is incorporated herein by reference.

Claims

1 . A seal for apparel including a strap of material having first and second ends and a permanent fixing element for fixing the first and second ends together.

2. A seal according to claim 1 , wherein the fixing element is a rivet, suture or a bonding material.

3. A seal according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the fixing element is breakable to remove the seal.

4. A seal according to claim 1 , 2 or 3, wherein the strap is made of a flexible compliant material.

5. A seal according to claim 4, wherein the strap is made of a soft material.

6. A seal according to claim 4 or 5, wherein the strap is made of a woven material or of a flexible sheet.

7. A seal according to any preceding claim, wherein the strap has a width in the range of 0.2 centimetres to 5.0 centimetres.

8. A seal according to any claim 7, wherein the strap has a width in the range of 0.5 centimetres to 2.5 centimetres.

9. A seal according to any preceding claim, wherein the strap has a length of at least 24 centimetres.

10. A seal according to claim 9, wherein the strap has a length of at least 24 centimetres as a seal used for jewellery, a length of at least 160 centimetres as a seal used for items of clothing, and a length of at least 60 centimetres as a seal used for bags and the like.

1 1 . A seal according to claim 9 or 10, wherein the strap has a maximum length of 30 centimetres as a seal used for jewellery, 240 centimetres as a seal used for items of clothing, 80 centimetres as a seal used for bags and the like.

12. A seal according to any preceding claim, wherein the strap is white or coloured.

13. A seal according to any preceding claim, wherein the strap is brightly coloured.

14. A seal according to any preceding claim, wherein the strap is fluorescent.

15. A seal according to any preceding claim, wherein the fixing element includes a proprietary and/or warning indicator.

16. A seal according to claim 15, wherein the indicator is in the form of a trade mark or symbol provided on or in the fixing element.

17. A seal according to claim 15 or 16, wherein the indicator is printed, embossed, engraved or stamped.

18. A seal according to any preceding claim, wherein the strap is provided with proprietary, warning or other indicators.

19. A seal according to claim 18, wherein the strap indicators include text.

20. An item of apparel including a seal provided with a strap of material having first and second ends and a permanent fixing element for fixing the first and second ends together, the strap of the seal being wrapped around a part of the item of apparel and extending over at least one externally visible part thereof.

21 . An item of apparel according to claim 20, wherein the seal is of a

contrasting colour to the colour of the item of apparel .

22. An item of apparel according to claim 20 or 21 , wherein the strap of the seal is of a contrasting colour to the colour of the item of apparel.

23. An item of apparel according to claim 20, 21 or 22, wherein the strap of the seal passes through at least one opening of the item of apparel.

24. A method of securing an item of apparel against unauthorised use, including the steps of:

providing a seal including a strap of material having first and second ends; wrapping the strap of the seal around a part of the item of apparel and extending over at least one externally visible part thereof; and

fixing the ends of the strap together by means of a permanent fixing element.

25. A method according to claim 24, wherein the fixing element is breakable to remove the seal.

26. A kit for securing an item of apparel against unauthorised use, including a supply of strap material and a supply of fixing elements, the strap being provided with proprietary, warning or other indicators thereon; the fixing elements being permanent fixing elements fixable onto the strap.

27. A kit according to claim 26, including a fitting tool for fixing the fixing elements to the strap.

28. A kit according to claim 27, wherein the fixing elements are rivets and the fixing tool is a rivet tool.

29. A kit according to any one of claims 26 to 28, wherein the fixing elements include a proprietary and/or warning indicator thereon.