REMOVABLE POCKET OVERLAYS, POCKET DESIGNS, FABRIC OVERLAYS AND USES THEREOF
Removable fashion overlays for clothing are described herein that comprise: a) at least one piece of fabric overlay material; and b) at least one coupling apparatus, wherein the fabric overlay material is designed to be applied to a piece of clothing using the at least one coupling apparatus and wherein the fabric overlay material does not form a pocket.
This application is a Patent Cooperation Treaty Application that is based on U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 60/906047 filed on Mar. 8, 2007, which is incorporated by reference in its entirety.
FIELD OF THE SUBJECT MATTERThe field of the subject matter is removable pocket overlays, pocket designs and uses thereof.
BACKGROUNDClothing consumers always look for methods to update and extend the useful lifetime of parts of their wardrobe, including pants, jeans, skirts, jackets, vests and shorts. Some of the more expensive pieces of clothing are the same ones that the consumer will want to wear more often, and therefore, its important and desirable for those pieces of clothing to have a different look each time it is worn by the consumer.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,656,673 to Easton et al. (“Easton”) discloses an individual attachable pocket for articles of clothing. The pockets in Easton are iron-on pockets and are therefore designed to be permanent once applied to the clothing. While this patent discloses methods and materials to update and repair clothing, once the pocket or patch is applied, it cannot be removed and leave the clothing in tact and unaffected.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,041,549 and 5,054,127 disclose methods of attaching and detaching full pockets to a vest, pants, shirts or jackets. The fully enclosed pockets can be attached, detached and stored with their contents in tact. The clothing that corresponds to these full pockets contain base pads or attachment strips, which allow for the pocket to couple with the clothing. Therefore, the clothing and the full pockets are intended to operate as a set. The underlying clothing article is not designed to be fashionable or desirable to wear by most of the general public without any of the full pockets attached, especially given that base pads and attachment devices would be exposed and presumably not attractive.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,737,775 discloses stick-on shirt pockets designed to a) form a pocket when attached to a shirt and b) provide space for advertising or artwork. This patent is similar to the two already discussed in that they provide a method of attaching a full pocket to a shirt surface. The distinction between this patent and the '549 and '127 patents is that there is an adhesive material on the back of the full pocket that is designed to attach to any surface on its own without a corresponding adhesive material on the shirt surface.
There is still a need in the clothing industry for removable pocket overlays, pocket designs and fabric overlays where the consumer can wear the original piece of clothing and optionally update or change the piece of clothing by applying a removable pocket overlay or removable fabric overlay, wherein the removable overlay or design doesn't form a pocket, but is instead intentionally designed to update and change the look of a piece of clothing.
Removable fashion overlays for clothing are described herein that comprise: a) at least one piece of fabric overlay material; and b) at least one coupling apparatus, wherein the fabric overlay material is designed to be applied to a piece of clothing using the at least one coupling apparatus and wherein the fabric overlay material does not form a pocket.
DETAILED DESCRIPTIONSurprisingly, removable pocket overlays, pocket designs and fabric overlays have been designed where the consumer can wear the original piece of clothing and optionally update or change the piece of clothing by applying a removable pocket overlay or removable fabric overlay, wherein the removable overlay or design doesn't form a pocket, but is instead intentionally designed to update and change the look of a piece of clothing. The function of the pocket overlays, pocket designs and fabric overlays is not to create a pocket, but instead to update and/or change a piece of clothing to make it more “wearable” for the consumer on more days.
Specifically, contemplated embodiments of a removable fashion overlay for clothing comprise: a) at least one piece of fabric overlay material; and b) at least one coupling apparatus, wherein the fabric overlay material is designed to be applied to a piece of clothing using the at least one coupling apparatus and wherein the fabric overlay material does not form a pocket. As used herein, the phrase “does not form a pocket” means that the fabric overlay material is not coupled to the piece of clothing, such that the fashion overlay can be used to store and/or hold items, such as wallets, pens, money, paper, credit cards, cell phones, pager devices, handheld devices or other items that may be stored in a pocket.
In addition, a piece of clothing comprising a coupling apparatus for receiving a removable fashion overlay is contemplated herein. In some embodiments, the piece of clothing comes already coupled to a removable fashion overlay. In other embodiments, the piece of clothing is produced with a plurality of studs or partial zippers (or the like) in order to mate with the coupling apparatus from a fashion overlay that is produced and sold separately.
The individual pocket overlays, pocket designs and fabric overlays may first be made out of any suitable fabric or material. Its not necessary that the material over the overlay match the material of the underlying fabric of the clothing item. As a matter of fact, it may be more advantageous to the wearer that the materials not match or complement one another. Also, given that the overlay's utility is that it updates or changes a piece of clothing, the overlay does not need to be made from a particularly durable or long-lasting fabric. Contemplated fabric choices may include natural or synthetic fabric, including denim, silk, cotton, polyester, rayon, linen, velvet, leather, suede or any combination thereof.
The individual pocket overlays, pocket designs and fabric overlays may also comprise any suitable design. These designs may comprise nonsensical or random designs, may comprise logos, trademarks or expressions, or a combination thereof. For example, a company may produce jeans and then produce a line of pocket overlays, some of which contain the logo of the company, some of which contain a random design and some of which contain a tag line with a random design. It should be clear that the designs and combinations of these designs are only limited by the creativity of the designer or company producing the overlays.
For example, some companies may choose to produce fashion overlays in the shape or containing the company logo, or a logo or tagline for a new product line. High school, colleges and universities may use fashion overlays with school logos. Athletic teams and countries participating in Olympic sports may produce fashion overlays with logos and flags.
The removable fashion overlay also comprises at least one coupling apparatus, which may comprise any suitable coupling device, method or apparatus. Contemplated coupling apparatus comprise a zipper, a stud, a button, a rivet, VELCRO®, a snap, a male-female coupling piece or a combination thereof. Contemplated coupling apparatus are designed to removably couple the at least one fashion overlay with at least one piece of clothing.
The designs contemplated may be a part of the design of the fabric, may be applied to a blank piece of fabric or may be a combination of both. The individual pocket overlays, pocket designs and fabric overlays may also comprise any suitable decorative material, such as stitching, beads, jewels, metallic pieces, lights, fluorescent materials, chains, buttons, zippers or combinations thereof.
As also shown in
As discussed, these pocket and fabric overlays may be applied to any suitable piece of clothing in any suitable location. Contemplated clothing includes pants, jackets, t-shirts, dress shirts, sweatshirts, shoes, vests, hats, etc. Suitable locations include any location where a pocket or fabric overlay would be desirable, including on the front, back, sleeves, legs or other suitable location.
Overlays contemplated herein may be removably attached to the item of clothing at any location on the overlay, including on one or both of the sides, the top, the bottom or under/bottom side of the overlay. Again, the overlay is not designed or intended to be a pocket to hold any item or items, so the attachment of the overlay to the item of clothing is merely intended to provide a secure attachment to the clothing for the user while the user is wearing the item of clothing.
When the overlay is being utilized as a pocket overlay, its designed to removably attach to the outside part of the pocket in order to provide a new “look” to the existing pocket while at the same time not interfering with the utility of the original/existing pocket. When the fashion overlay is being utilized as a patch, it can also function as a belt loop. As
Thus, specific embodiments and applications of removable pocket overlays, pocket designs, fabric overlays and uses thereof have been disclosed. It should be apparent, however, to those skilled in the art that many more modifications besides those already described are possible without departing from the inventive concepts herein. Moreover, in interpreting the specification, all terms should be interpreted in the broadest possible manner consistent with the context. In particular, the terms “comprises” and “comprising” should be interpreted as referring to elements, components, or steps in a non-exclusive manner, indicating that the referenced elements, components, or steps may be present, or utilized, or combined with other elements, components, or steps that are not expressly referenced.
Claims
1. A removable fashion overlay for a piece of clothing, comprising:
- at least one piece of fabric overlay material; and
- at least one coupling apparatus, wherein the fabric overlay material is designed to be applied to a piece of clothing using the at least one coupling apparatus and wherein the fabric overlay material does not form a pocket.
2. The removable fashion overlay of claim 1, wherein the fashion overlay comprises a pocket overlay, a fabric overlay, a pocket design or a combination thereof.
3. The removable fashion overlay of claim 2, wherein the fabric overlay comprises a belt loop cover, waist band cover or combination thereof.
4. The removable fashion overlay of claim 1, wherein the at least one piece of fabric overlay material comprises denim, silk, cotton, polyester, rayon, linen, velvet, leather, plastic, suede or any combination thereof.
5. The removable fashion overlay of claim 1, wherein the overlay may comprise any suitable design.
6. The removable fashion overlay of claim 5, wherein the design may comprise embroidery, rhinestones, metal, paint, chains, screen-printed designs, textured designs, zippers or a combination thereof.
7. The removable fashion overlay of claim 1, wherein the at least one coupling apparatus comprise a zipper, a stud, a button, a rivet, VELCRO®, a snap, a male-female coupling piece or a combination thereof.
8. The removable fashion overlay of claim 1, wherein the removable fashion overlay may comprise any suitable shape.
9. The removable fashion overlay of claim 8, wherein the shape comprises a square, a triangle, a rectangle, a circle, a random shape or a combination thereof.
10. The removable fashion overlay of claim 1, wherein the piece of clothing comprises pants, jackets, t-shirts, dress shirts, sweatshirts, shoes, vests, hats or a combination thereof.
Type: Application
Filed: Mar 7, 2008
Publication Date: Jul 15, 2010
Inventor: Paul Yari (Los Angeles, CA)
Application Number: 12/529,854
International Classification: A41D 27/08 (20060101); A41D 27/20 (20060101);