WO2021151602A1

WO2021151602A1 - Arrangement and method for storing and transporting collapsible volumetric products

Info

Publication number: WO2021151602A1
Application number: PCT/EP2020/087860
Authority: WO
Inventors: Juan Martín SANZ
Original assignee: RAY, Martina Maria
Priority date: 2020-01-28
Filing date: 2020-12-24
Publication date: 2021-08-05
Also published as: AR117558A1

Abstract

An arrangement for the storage and transport of collapsible volumetric products such as a collapsible customized mannequin (3) for the personal use of a consumer in their clothing purchase relationship through online sales and marketing chains, being that it reproduces the real anatomy of the person in order to improve the quality of the online clothing sales service, so that the dressmakers or sellers use this arrangement to make or choose the garment correctly and in accordance with the customer's anatomy, without the need to send two or three trial garments as in the prior art. The claimed arrangement comprises a collapsible body (3), a support (2) on which the body (3) adheres and a container, i.e. a bag (12) from which air is removed (vacuum) to collapse the body (3) and allow the bag (12) and the body (3) with the support (2) to be inserted in a container box (8).

Description

ARRANGEMENT AND METHOD FOR STORING AND TRANSPORTING

COLLAPSIBLE VOLUMETRIC PRODUCTS

STATE OF THE ART OF THE INVENTION

Field of Invention

The present invention relates to an arrangement and method for use in the industry and commercialization of all types of collapsible volumetric products such as furniture, objects of art, busts, monuments and the like, and more particularly it relates to an anatomically customized and collapsible mannequin for testing garments for the purpose of marketing said garments remotely, that is, for the sale and purchase of garments through online communication networks such as the Internet or others, wherein the consumer orders one or more garments to an "online" store, wherein, according to the invention, the store has at the time of purchase, or is provided prior to purchase, with a mannequin that matches anatomical specifications of the buyer.

Description of prior art

The present invention may be applied in any industry that involves the manufacture of volumetric products that must be moved and stored for their final use or commercialization at different points of sale. There are many products that have volumes of importance compared to their weight, which requires a lot of space for storage and transport that ultimately translates into high costs. The issue of the volume to be transported and the associated costs has always been a concern in every industry. By way of example, mention may be made of the furniture, advertising and display industries, and among all these products the well-known mannequins that are used in the clothing industry and in the display of garments in stores.

In the clothing industry and commercialization there are different ways of purchasing garments by users. The most sumptuous or expensive are generally acquired by tailoring made to measure by dressmakers and tailors, for which the consumer must choose the fabrics and go to the work place of the dressmaker or tailor. Of course it is possible that the person who does the work can go to the client's home but this, it is known, makes the final cost of tailor-made clothing much more expensive.

Most of the clothing industry's consumption is done through the purchase of garments in stores and, to a lesser extent but increasingly, through “online” marketing networks. When a consumer wants to buy a garment, for example through Internet websites, he/she can see the available models and the predetermined sizes that could fit his/her anatomy. Once the model has been chosen, commissioned and/or purchased, the "online" store sends two or three sizes approximated to those indicated as possible by the customer and once the correct size has been tried on, those whose size was not adequate are returned. This represents an obstacle in this type of commercialization due to the costs and risks of damage and loss of garments that transport involves.

It would be very convenient to have some type of arrangement that would allow a product to collapse, package it for transport and storage, and at the time of use return it to the original volume and shape, for example, in the clothing industry it would be very useful to have a mannequin with the anatomical shape and size corresponding to the buyer and that can be collapsed to be sent to the store with low volume and that the store can return it to its original shape and volume to make a customized test of a garment chosen by the consumer, however, until now there is nothing that could satisfy this need. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide an arrangement to be used in the industry and commercialization of all types of collapsible volumetric products such as furniture, objects of art, busts, monuments and the like, wherein the products have a volume capable of being collapsed, kept in that condition in a packaging for storage and transport to destination, and capable of being restored to its original volume and shape for its final use, always preserving its ability to collapse and shape and volume restitution.

It is also an object of the present invention to provide a collapsible customized mannequin arrangement which provides a better online sales opportunity so that people can buy clothing safely and according to their real anatomy, without the need for the seller or dressmaker to send two or three trial pieces to find the correct size.

It is also an object of the present invention a customized mannequin arrangement that represents the exact anatomy of the person, so that the dressmaker or seller uses said arrangement to make the garment or to choose the correct size.

It is yet another object of the present invention to provide a collapsible customized mannequin arrangement for storage within a compartment or container, thus optimizing physical spaces.

It is still another object of the present invention to provide a collapsible arrangement whose functionality can be extended to the formation or reproduction of any type of product by previously taking the ornamental measurements of parts, products, people or any type of object, without any inconvenience. It is also another object of the present invention to provide a collapsible arrangement that allows its protection and transport in a practical, fast and easy way, being that by virtue of shape memory building material, it allows its protection and expansion much more quickly.

It is still another object of the present invention to provide a collapsible arrangement that can be used for the shaping of works of art, design, construction, or the like.

It is still another object of the present invention to provide a collapsible customized mannequin arrangement for the personal use of a consumer in their clothing purchase relationship through online sales and marketing chains, wherein the mannequin arrangement comprises at least one support component that extends through at least a portion of the torso corresponding to the consumer, at least one body that forms the torso according to the consumer's anatomy and is made of a collapsible material, and a container for compressing said body made of collapsible material.

It is also another object of the present invention to provide a method for the storage and transportation of the collapsible volumetric product arrangement of the invention, wherein the method comprises the steps of: taking said volumetric product and inserting the volumetric product into a hermetic bag provided with a mouthpiece, connecting said mouthpiece to a vacuum source and removing the atmospheric air from the bag, generating a vacuum inside the bag, compacting by means of said vacuum the collapsible material of the body adhered to said support component, and hermetically closing said mouthpiece, housing said compacted bag, with the collapsed volumetric product inside the bag, inside a container for compressing said body made of collapsible material, keeping said volumetric product inside the compacted bag for storage and/or transport, and removing said bag from the container and opening said mouthpiece so that atmospheric air enters the mouthpiece so that said volumetric body returns to its original volume.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

For greater clarity and understanding of the object of the present invention, it has been illustrated in several figures, in which the invention has been represented in one of the preferred embodiments, all by way of example, wherein:

Figure 1 shows a perspective view of a collapsible volumetric body, which according to an example of the invention, comprises a collapsible customized mannequin arrangement, although it could be any other volumetric body of any application;

Figure 2 shows an exploded perspective view of the mannequin arrangement of the present invention;

Figure 3 shows a perspective view of one half of a collapsible body that forms the front part of the torso with the anatomical measurements of the person according to the present invention;

Figure 4 shows a perspective view of the other half of the collapsible body that forms the rear part of the torso with the anatomical measurements of the person according to the present invention; Figure 5 shows a side and exploded view of the customized mannequin arrangement according to the present invention;

Figure 6 shows a perspective view of a container box which is open and where said body representative of the anatomical measurements of the person will be stored and collapsed;

Figure 7 shows a perspective view of the container box of Figure 6, which is closed by means of respective straps illustrated in detail therein;

Figure 8 shows the collapsible volumetric body of Figure 1 inserted into an hermetic bag to which vacuum is applied by means of, for example, a conventional vacuum cleaner, to reduce its volume, and

Figure 9 shows the volumetric body of Figure 1 already collapsed under vacuum inside the hermetic bag and ready to be packed inside the box of Figures 6 and 7.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

Now referring to the figures, it can be seen that the invention consists of an arrangement for handling volumetric bodies to be used in the industry and commercialization of all types of products that have a volume that represents a disadvantage when transporting them due to the high cost related to the space they occupy in transport and freight vehicles. According to the invention, such bodies or products are collapsible, to reduce their volume at the time of their transport and storage, and such products, among many others, can be furniture, objects of art, busts, monuments and the like.

Although in the figures that will be described below, reference is made to a mannequin, it is important to note that this represents only an example of a volumetric body and only an application example in the clothing manufacturing and marketing industry, however, It is emphasized again, the novel arrangement of the invention is not limited to the mannequin or to the mentioned industry.

Referring now to the figures, it is seen that one of the preferred applications of the invention consists in a collapsible customized mannequin arrangement for the personal use of a consumer in their clothing purchase relationship through online sales and marketing chain. The mannequin, according to the invention, reproduces the real anatomy of the person in order to improve the quality of the online clothing sales service, so that dressmakers or sellers use said mannequin arrangement to make or choose the garment correctly and according to the client's anatomy, without the need to send two or three trial garments as in the previous art. In the case of a tailor who must make a garment tailored to a client, it will not be necessary for the client to go to the tailor shop but it will be enough to send his customized mannequin.

Likewise, the invention is not limited to a mannequin for making or choosing garments, but the arrangement of the invention can be applicable to any type of product of any industry in order to recreate, previously taking the ornamental measurements of the product or object, an exact copy of the product to be formed. In turn, the arrangement of the invention can be used for artistic and similar purposes without any inconvenience.

Thus, and according to Figures 1 to 5, the collapsible arrangement of the present invention is indicated by the general reference 1 and comprises at least one support component 2 that extends through at least a torso portion corresponding to the consumer. Said support component 2 can be made of a plate or sheet of a rigid material selected from the group consisting of wood, plywood, mdf, melamine, high impact plastic, metallic, polymeric sheet, etc., or a combination thereof. Although said support component has been illustrated in the shape of a full torso, this is not limiting to the invention, since the support component may simply have a "T" shape, which extends covering at least the trunk and shoulders corresponding to the anatomy of the consumer. The purpose of the support component is to maintain the configuration of the product since, as will be seen below, the rest of the product is collapsible, for example collapsible and/or deformable under a pressure greater than that which it is intended to work.

Indeed, the support component 2 of the present invention acts as a support for a body 3 that forms the torso according to the actual anatomy of the consumer. Wherein, the body 3 comprises at least two pieces, at least one front part of the torso 4 and at least one rear part of the consumer torso 5. However, depending on the type of anatomy of the person, the body 3 that forms the torso according to the consumer's anatomy can comprise at least one additional front piece 6 and one additional rear piece 7, thus there being two pieces corresponding to the torso front part 4-6 and at least two pieces corresponding to the torso rear part 5-7, as best illustrated in Figure 5.

The body 3 that forms the torso according to the consumer's anatomy is made of a collapsible material, of the shape memory type, and more particularly of a material that can be selected from the group consisting of polyurethane foam (foam rubber), flexible polyurethane, polyester base or polyether base, or a combination thereof. The body is also made of an inflatable/deflatable material. The characteristics of the polyurethane foam in terms of resistance to compaction must be such that it does not exceed atmospheric pressure. This is so because one way to compact or collapse the body is inside a bag to which vacuum is applied, as will be seen later. That is, compaction is achieved at atmospheric pressure and by means of a small household vacuum cleaner.

The body 3, being made of a shape memory or "collapsible" material, can be reduced in volume in order to provide practicality in storage and transport from the consumer's home to the shop - clothing store, as well as between clothing stores. In turn, being collapsible, the arrangement can be stored in order to optimize the physical spaces of the storage place.

A preferred way to carry out the collapse of the body 3 is schematically illustrated in Figures 8 and 9. The body 3 is introduced into a bag 12 that must be hermetic, for example made of polyethylene, which has a mouthpiece or spout 13 with a one-way valve connectable to a hose 14 that leads to a vacuum source or vacuum pump (not illustrated) to remove atmospheric air from the bag and generate a vacuum therein. The suction pump can be a conventional household vacuum cleaner. In this way, by removing the air from the bag and generating a vacuum, the collapsible material of the body 3 will collapse, reducing its volume significantly, as shown in compacted form in Figure 9. In this way, the body 3 is reduced to a minimum thickness and kept inside the bag, compacted, during storage and transport to the store. For this, the bag compacted with the body 3 is inserted into a container box 8 that is comprised of two fittable parts, an upper one 9 and a lower one 10 and which can be connected and closed by means of straps with coupling fasteners 11 or the like. This is not limiting to the invention, and as illustrated in Figures 6 and 7. The storage box 8 can be made of mdf, high impact, PET, etc.

The parts or covers 9 and 10 are assembled in a coupled form and then, with the straps 11, are kept compressing the content. This must be so because commercially available vacuum bags guarantee only a limited time before air begins to enter them. Therefore, if you want or need to make a stock of these bodies this must be done in rigid containers that maintain their volume. The polyethylene and the vacuum cleaner only serve to momentarily collapse while the rigid container 8 is closed, which will be in charge of keeping the collapsible body in a collapsed form. Although in Figures 6 and 7 a container box 8 having a rectangular geometry has been illustrated, this does not imply that it is limited to said geometry and dimensions, but rather that it can have any type of geometry and size that allows the storage of the body 3 in a collapsed state and its subsequent transport in a practical, fast and safe way.

To carry out the formation of the body 3, firstly the consumer or client is taken to a chamber or module where they will be scanned and their anatomical measurements will be taken. The half-naked consumer enters said chamber and his/her anatomy is sensed and scanned through respective related devices, which are well known in the field of art and, for such reasons, descriptive details about them will not be provided. Once the anatomical measurements of the consumer have been taken, the information is processed in a computer program and the sequence is sent to a computerized numerical control (CNC) unit equipped with a cutting tool that will perform the sculpting and reproduction of the consumer's torso quickly, respecting the shape and real details thereof from a block of collapsible material of standard measures.

For example, through a CNC system, the body 3 can be shaped by layers or slices that are then adhered for the reproduction and formation of the parts of the torso according to the needs and practicality of each case, being that they can be made in many or few layers which will adhere to form at least the front part 4 and the rear part 5 of the consumer's torso. Once both parts 4, 5 have been obtained, they are glued together placing the support component 2 in the middle, for example by adhering the parts with contact cement. Once at least three parts have been joined, for example the front part 4, the support component 2 and the rear part 5, the collapse of the formed mannequin arrangement proceeds. It is highlighted that it can also be provided with the additional parts 6 and 7 to form the mannequin arrangement of the invention. It is emphasized that the collapsible arrangement of the invention can be painted with some type of paint that improves the sliding of clothing.

Among the mechanisms to manufacture the body 3, in addition to the one mentioned, it could consist of foaming, that is, mixing the components, on a female matrix with the shape of the body in question. It could also consist of laser cutting slices that are glued forming a stepped figure, or by means of 3D printing in flexible material.

Thus, the arrangement of the invention, already formed with the anatomical characteristics of the consumer, is in a position to be transported to the shop or the dressmaker / seller's premises. To this end and as mentioned above, the arrangement of the invention is introduced into the polyethylene bag to which vacuum is applied in order to reduce the volume of the arrangement since the collapsible material that forms the body 3 tends to reduce its volume when generating vacuum. The body 3 reduced in volume and being in a collapsed state, is stored in the container box 8 and from there on, it is transported to the store. Upon arrival at the store, the arrangement of the invention is removed from the polyethylene bag, releasing the air inlet through the spout 13, the body 3 returns to its expanded state by virtue of its collapsible material that when the pressure is released on the body, it returns to its original configuration. As the arrangement is expanded, it is in a position to be used by the dressmaker / seller to make or test the garment according to the consumer's anatomy. Once the garment has been made or chosen, the seller / dressmaker performs the same steps mentioned above to collapse the body 3 in order to store it and protect it inside the container box 8.

It is highlighted that, the container box 8 can have coupling means in order to facilitate the storage of the container boxes 8 in a furniture or related physical space, in which other container boxes with other mannequin arrangements of different consumers can be arranged, so that the dressmaker or seller has the mannequin arrangements of each client immediately available.

In this way, the collapsible customized mannequin arrangement of the present invention is constituted and built, which improves the sales process of online stores in order to provide a better purchase-sale relationship between the client and the dressmaker-seller, being that by means of the invention it is no longer required to send two or three trial garments to find the correct size. The invention thus allows reproducing an exact copy of the anatomy of the client's torso, said torso being collapsible to be stored and transported from store to store or from the client's home to the store in a much more practical, fast and easy way, also entailing a saving in operating time since by having the collapsible arrangement, the dressmaker - seller has a faithful copy of the client's anatomy so that the preparation and testing is exact to that if the client were in the place, this being an significant advantage with respect to prior art.

Claims

1. An arrangement for the storage and transport of collapsible volumetric products, for the industry and commerce of all types of collapsible volumetric products such as furniture, objects of art, busts, monuments and the like, wherein the arrangement is characterized by: at least one support component that extends through at least a portion of a volumetric product, at least one body adhered to said support component and making up the volumetric product, the body being made of a collapsible material, and a container for compressing said body made of collapsible material.

2. An arrangement according to claim 1, characterized in that said volumetric product is a collapsible customized mannequin for personal use of a consumer in his/her clothing purchase relationship through online sales and marketing chains, wherein said at least one support component extends through at least a torso portion corresponding to the consumer and said at least one body adhered to the support component forms the torso according to the consumer's anatomy.

3. An arrangement according to claim 2, characterized in that said support component is made of a rigid material selected from the group consisting of wood, high impact material, multilaminate, mdf, melamine, or a combination thereof.

4. An arrangement according to claim 2, characterized in that said support component extends at least from the trunk and shoulders belonging to the consumer.

5. An arrangement according to claim 2, characterized in that said body that forms the torso according to the consumer's anatomy comprises at least two parts, there being at least one front part of the torso and at least one rear part of the torso.

6. An arrangement according to claim 5, characterized in that said body that forms the torso according to the consumer's anatomy comprises at least two pieces corresponding to the front part of the torso and at least two pieces corresponding to the rear part of the torso.

7. An arrangement according to claim 2, characterized in that said collapsible body material is selected from the group consisting of polyurethane foam, flexible polyurethane foam based on polyester or based on polyether, or a combination thereof.

8. An arrangement according to claim 7, characterized in that said body is between an expanded state and a collapsed state.

9. An arrangement according to claim 2, characterized in that said container for compressing said body made of collapsible material comprises a polyethylene bag.

10. An arrangement according to claim 2, characterized in that said container for compressing said body made of collapsible material comprises a polyethylene box.

11. An arrangement according to claim 1, characterized in that said body is in said collapsed state inside a container box comprising two parts being fittable and closed by straps.

12. A method for the storage and transportation of the collapsible volumetric product arrangement of claim 1, wherein the method is characterized by the steps of: taking said volumetric product and inserting the volumetric product into a hermetic bag provided with a mouthpiece, connecting said mouthpiece to a vacuum source and removing the atmospheric air from the bag, generating a vacuum inside the bag, compacting by means of said vacuum the collapsible material of the body adhered to said support component, and hermetically closing said mouthpiece, housing said compacted bag, with the collapsed volumetric product inside the bag, inside a container for compressing said body made of collapsible material, keeping said volumetric product inside the compacted bag for storage and/or transport, and removing said bag from the container and opening said mouthpiece so that atmospheric air enters the mouthpiece so that said volumetric body returns to its original volume.