INTERCHANGEABLE ADORNMENTS FOR FASHION ARTICLES

Abstract

An interchangeable adornment for a fashion article has a base and a first attachment element coupled to the base for detachably attaching the base to arbitrary location on the surface of the fashion article and in an arbitrary rotational orientation relative to the surface without penetrating the surface. A first ornament is coupled to the base and a second ornament is detachably coupled to the first ornament by way of a fastener. The first ornament may be mounted on a stem which projects from the base such that at least a portion of the stem passes through a portion of the first ornament which is located between the base and a retainer which extends radially outwardly from the stem.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This is a continuation-in-part of co-pending, commonly-owned, U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/951684 entitled: HEADBAND WITH INTERCHANGEABLE DECORATIVE ORNAMENTS which was filed Nov. 22, 2010.

STATEMENT REGARDING FEDERALLY SPONSORED-RESEARCH OR DEVELOPMENT

Not Applicable.

INCORPORATION BY REFERENCE

U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/951684 entitled: HEADBAND WITH INTERCHANGEABLE DECORATIVE ORNAMENTS filed Nov. 22, 2010 is expressly incorporated herein by reference in its entirety to form part of the present disclosure.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The invention relates to the field of user-removable and interchangeable adornments for ornamenting fashion articles such as clothing and/or fashion accessories such as headbands, hair clips, hair bows, hair ribbons, bracelets, shoes, purses, hats, neckties, scarves, hand bags, back packs, or the like. More particularly, the present invention relates to interchangeable fashion article adornments which can be detachably attached to a surface of the fashion article at arbitrary locations on said surface and in an arbitrary rotational orientations relative to said surface without penetrating the fashion article. The adornments include a first ornament and an interchangeable second ornament which a user can remove and replace with a different second ornament or change the look of the adornment whenever desired.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

It is well known in the prior art to accent fashion articles, such as clothing, shoes or hats, or fashion accessories such as headbands, barrettes, hand bags, purses, belts or caps, with an adornment which can be removably attached to the fashion article to provide a desired ornamental effect and later removed and replaced with a different adornment to provide a different ornamental effect. For example, U.S. Patent Application Pub. No.: US 2010/0277944 A1 in the name of Hurwitz discloses such adornments in the form of interchangeable attachments which modify the look and feel of a hand bag, clutch, belt, cap, suspenders, back pack, or a hair accessory such as a head band or barrette or an article of clothing such as a top or the shoulder straps of a dress. Such interchangeable attachments include a top wall having a show surface and a back wall having a securing member adapted to engage a connection means on the article for removably attaching the interchangeable attachment to the article. The connection means are disclosed as suitably being either hook and loop fasteners, such as those sold under the trademark VELCRO®, snaps; hooks; buttons; or other mechanical devices, as well as low bonding adhesive materials or mating magnetic portions.

Hurwitz '944 discloses that such an interchangeable attachment, referred to below as a primary interchangeable attachment, may itself be fitted with one or more ornamental secondary interchangeable attachments, each of which includes a securing member having a shaft portion which is received through one of a series of respective holes. The holes penetrate both the primary interchangeable attachment and the fashion article in order to permit the secondary interchangeable attachment to be removably attached to the article. While the ability to add secondary interchangeable attachments permits a variety of different ornamental effects to be achieved with any particular primary interchangeable attachment, the arrangement described in Hurwitz '944 has significant drawbacks. The primary interchangeable attachment can be affixed to the fashion article only at a particular location on the fashion article. Also, the need to include one or more mutually aligned holes in the fashion article and primary interchangeable attachment in order to attach a secondary interchangeable attachment is highly undesirable. Such holes are unsightly and may damage the fashion article and/or limit the ability to wear or use the fashion article without a secondary interchangeable attachment.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

A preferred embodiment of an interchangeable adornment according to the invention includes a base and a first attachment element coupled to the base for detachably attaching the base to a fashion article at an arbitrary location on the surface of the fashion article and in an arbitrary orientation relative to the surface without penetrating the surface. The adornment includes a first ornament coupled to the base and a second ornament which is detachably coupled to the first ornament by way of a quickly releasable fastener. In certain embodiments, the first ornament may be mounted on a stem which projects from the base such that at least a portion of the stem passes through a portion of the first ornament which is located between the base and a retainer which extends radially outwardly from the stem. In some embodiments, the first attachment element may comprise a permanent magnet, a magnetically attractable member, a piece of hook material or a piece of loop material. In some embodiments, the fastener by way of which the second ornament is coupled to the first ornament may be a bipartite fastener with includes a pair of attachment elements such as a permanent magnet and either a permanent magnet of opposite polarity or a magnetically attractable member. Alternatively, the attachment elements of the fastener may comprise a piece of hook material and a piece of loop material or may comprise the male portion of a snap fastener and a female portion of a snap fastener. Virtually limitless types of ornaments may be used. In certain embodiments, the first ornament and/or the second ornament may consist of, or may comprise, a ribbon, an artificial flower, a bow, a gem, an artificial gem, a bead, a feather, a representation of a creature, or a representation of a character.

These and other aspects and advantages of the invention will become apparent to a person of ordinary skill in the art upon review of the written description set forth herein and the accompanying drawings in which like reference numerals are used to designate like items.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a schematic side cross-sectional view illustrating a first preferred embodiment of an adornment according to the invention shown as in use attached to a fashion article, and

FIG. 2 is a schematic side cross-sectional view illustrating a second preferred embodiment of the invention shown detached from a fashion article.

FIG. 3 is an exploded view of a third preferred embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a perspective, partially sectional, view of the embodiment of FIG. 3 with the second ornament removed.

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of the embodiment of FIG. 3.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

Referring initially to FIG. 1, a preferred embodiment of an interchangeable adornment 10 for a fashion article 12 includes a base 14. To permit adornment 10 to be manually attached to, or removed from, fashion article 12 whenever a user may desire without the use of tools or undue effort, a first attachment element 17 is coupled to base 14, preferably non-removably. In certain embodiments, first attachment element 17 may be affixed to a lower surface of base 14 such as by adhesive bonding, swaging, crimping, sewing, soldering, welding, brazing, riveting, or by threaded engagement of male or female threads formed on base 14 with mating male or female threads formed on attachment element 17. Screws or other mechanical fasteners may alternatively be used to affix first attachment element 17 to base 14. First attachment element 17 detachably attaches base 14 to a surface 19 of fashion article 12 at an arbitrary location on the surface 19 and in an arbitrary rotational orientation relative to the surface 19. A first ornament 21 is coupled to base 14, preferably in a non-removable manner, and a second ornament 23 is detachably attached to first ornament 21 by way of a quickly releasable fastener 25. Fastener 25 is preferably a bipartite fastener of the type having a pair of attachment elements 26, 27 which may be detachably attached to one another as schematically illustrated by broken line 28.

First attachment element 17 is an attachment element of a type which permits base 14 and thus, the entire adornment 10, to be manually detachably attached to surface 19 in whatever rotationally angular orientation relative to the surface 19 a user may choose and at any arbitrary location a user may select within at least an aerial portion of the surface 19 of a fashion article 12, without requiring the base 14 or any other portion of adornment 10 to penetrate the fashion article 12. For example, in certain embodiments, first attachment element 17 may comprise, or may consist of, either a piece of hook material 37, or a piece of loop material 38, which may be detachably attached in any desired rotationally angular orientation relative to, and at any desired location on, a larger piece of mating fastener material (either hook material or loop material as the case may be) making up at least a portion of the area of the surface 19 of a fashion article 12.

In other embodiments of adornment 10, element 17 may comprise or consist of either a permanent magnet 34 or a magnetically attractable member 35. Such embodiments are particularly useful in connection with types of fashion articles 12 to which a permanent magnet 34, or a magnetically attractable member 35, are magnetically attractable with sufficient force to reliably hold adornment 10 in place on the surface 19 of the fashion article 12 in the course of normal use while not being held in place so strongly as to preclude manual detachment of the adornment 10 from the fashion article 12 without undue effort or the use of tools. For example, in an adornment 10 intended to adorn a fashion article 12 of a type which is made either entirely of magnetically attractable material 40, or at least includes a sufficient amount magnetically attractable material 40 at, or in sufficiently close proximity to, the surface 19 of the fashion article 12 to permit adornment 10 to be held securely but detachably to surface 19, first attachment element 17 may consist of, or include, one or more permanent magnets 34 of magnetic strength appropriate to the application. Non-limiting examples of fashion articles 12 of such type include bracelets, headbands or barrettes which may be made wholly or partially of magnetically attractable material 40 such as a permanently magnetic material, or ferromagnetic material such as steel, iron or other alloys, whether permanently magnetized or not. It is to be noted that while such a magnetically attractable material 40 may in some cases be present at the surface 19 of the fashion article 12, such need not necessarily be the case. The steel or other magnetically attractable material 40 may be present beneath surface 19 such as beneath one or more layers of paint, or other protective and/or decorative coatings. Fashion articles 12 such as garments, headbands, back packs, purses, clutches, hats, belts, shoes, boots, sandals or others may also incorporate sheets, bars, rods, or strips of steel or other members of magnetically attractable material 40 disposed within or beneath an exterior layer of natural, synthetic or blended fabric and/or beneath one or more intermediate structures of the fashion article 12 such as beneath one or more layers of lining material, thermal insulation, padding, liquid barrier material and/or vapor barrier material. Fashion article 12 may also incorporate one or members of magnetically attractable material 40 disposed in a pocket, pouch or cavity located beneath surface 19. Fashion article 12 may also incorporate magnetically attractable material 40 in any of a variety of forms, including but not limited to, a magnetically attractable plurality of small beads or pellets which may for example, be incorporated in an exterior portion of fashion article 12 and/or contained within a pocket, pouch or cavity located beneath the surface 19 of the fashion article 12. A fashion article 12 on which an adornment 10 having a permanent magnet 34 as a first attachment element 17 may suitably be used may also be one in which a sufficient quantity of magnetically attractable material 40 is present in the form of particles, beads, pellets or pieces of any regular or irregular shape which have been encased within a solidified matrix of previously flowable material such as, for example, a resin such as a thermoplastic resin or an epoxy. It is to be appreciated however, that the adornment 10 of the invention is not limited to use with a fashion article 12 of any particular type or structure and that fashion article 12 forms no part of adornment 10.

First ornament 21 may suitably comprise any form of ornamentation. By way of non-limiting examples, in certain embodiments first ornament 21 may comprise, or may consist of any of the following, either alone or in any combination or sub-combination: a ribbon 41, an artificial flower 42, a bow 43, a gem 44, an artificial gem 45, a stone 46, a bead 47, a feather 48, a representation of a creature 49, and/or a representation of a character 50. The illustrations of ribbon 41, artificial flower 42, bow 43, gem 44, artificial gem 45, stone 46, bead 47, feather 48, representation of a creature 49 and representation of a character 50 as set forth in the drawings are schematic in nature and are not to be construed as limiting as to size, shape, color, selection of materials and/or portrayal of any particular appearance or ornamental design. Ribbon 41 may, for example, comprise a ribbon of any desired size, shape and/or material and may either be untied. tied or otherwise arranged in any manner. Artificial flower 42 is also not to be construed to be limited as to any particular size, shape, type of flower or material. Bow 43 is also not to be limited as to its size, shape or materials. Likewise, gem 44 may be any type of gem, either precious, semi-precious or non-precious, may be natural or synthetic and may be of any size or shape, either faceted or unfaceted. Artificial gem 45 may be of any desired size, shape, color and may be made of glass, plastic or any other desired material. Stone 46 may be any type natural or simulated stone, either polished or unpolished, and any desired size or shape. Bead 47 may be of any size, shape, color or material and feather 48 may be of any type of natural or artificial feather. Representation of creature 49 may suitably comprise any two-dimensional or three-dimensional representation of any type of creature including, without limitation, a human, a bird, an animal, a fish, an insect, a reptile, an amphibian, an invertebrate or otherwise. Representation of creature 49 can be, but need not necessarily be, a lifelike representation. Representation of character 50 may suitably comprise any two-dimensional or three-dimensional representation of any type of imaginary character including, without limitation, a cartoon character, a monster, a ghost, a literary character, a mythological character, a comic book character, a movie character or the like.

First ornament 21 and base 14 are coupled to one another, preferably non-detachably. In certain embodiments, first ornament 21 and base 14 may be adhesively bonded to one another. In other embodiments, depending on the materials involved, first ornament 21 and base 14 may be joined to one another by sewing, crimping, swaging, soldering, welding, brazing or riveting. Alternatively, first ornament 21 may be coupled to base 14 by way of mechanical engagement as in the manner to be described further below with reference to FIG. 2.

First ornament 21 is detachably coupled to a second ornament 23. Second ornament 23 may comprise any desired form of ornamentation. As non-limiting examples, second ornament 23 may comprise, or may consist of, any or all of the types of ornaments mentioned in connection with first ornament 21 above. Such ornaments include any combination or sub-combination of: ribbon 41, artificial flower 42, bow 43, gem 44, artificial gem 45, stone 46, bead 47, feather 48, representation of a creature 49 and/or a representation of a character 50.

First ornament 21 and second ornament 23 are detachably coupled to one another by way of at least a fastener 25 of a type having a pair of mutually mateable attachment elements 26, 27 adapted to be manually, quickly, easily, selectively be either disengaged from one another or engaged with one another so as to be securely mechanically connected to one another whenever a user may desire. Fastener 25 may suitably comprise a mechanical snap fastener 30, a magnetic fastener 33 or a hook and loop fastener such as the type sold under the trademark VELCRO®. In the case of a snap fastener 30, one of attachment elements 26 or 27 would include a snap fastener male portion 31 while the other of the attachment elements 26 or 27 would include a mechanically mateable snap fastener female portion 32. In the case of a magnetic fastener 33, one of the attachment elements 26 or 27 would include a permanent magnet 34 while the other of the attachment elements 26 or 27 would include a magnetically attractable member 35. Magnetically attractable member 35 may either be a permanent magnet, appropriately polarized and oriented for mutual attraction with permanent magnet 34, or may be a piece of a material, such as iron or steel, which is attractable by a permanent magnet without itself necessarily being permanently magnetized. In embodiments in which fastener 25 comprises a hook and loop fastener 36, one of the attachment elements 26 or 27 would include a piece of hook material 37 while the other of attachment elements 26 or 27 would include a piece of loop material 38. Second ornament 23 is preferably connected non-removably to attachment element 26. Such connection can be made in any suitable manner, including without limitation, by adhesive bonding, swaging, crimping, welding, soldering, brazing, riveting or sewing. In certain embodiments, attachment element 26 and second ornament 23 may optionally be formed as an integral, or substantially integral, unit such as by casting or molding both parts as a unit or by insert molding attachment element 26 wholly or partially into second ornament 23.

In certain embodiments, attachment element 27 and first ornament 21 may be permanently attached directly to one another such as by adhesive bonding or depending on the materials involved, by sewing, swaging, crimping, soldering, welding, and/or brazing as non-limiting examples. In other embodiments, first ornament 21 and second ornament 23 may be coupled together not only by way of fastener 25 but also by way of one or more additional elements. An example of such an embodiment will now be described.

In FIG. 2, an alternative embodiment of an adornment 10 is schematically illustrated as being detached from the surface 19 of a fashion article 12 as indicated by a double arrow 53 which, for directional reference purposes only, is shown oriented in an axial direction. As used herein and in the claims, the terms “radial” or “radially” refer to a direction which is transverse to the axial direction. In the embodiment of FIG. 2, the first attachment element 17 consists of a permanent magnet 34 which is non-removably mounted in a recess 55 formed in base 14. To permit adornment 10 to securely but detachably attach to an arbitrary location on a surface 19 of fashion article 12, a magnetically attractable member 35 such as a strip or sheet of steel or other magnetically attractable material may be included in fashion article 12. The coupling of first ornament 21 to base 14 is facilitated by a stem 57 which projects from base 14 in an axial direction. First ornament 21 includes an aperture 59 through which at least a portion 61 of stem 57 passes.

To retain first ornament 21 in place on stem 57 between base 14 and retainer 63, a retainer 63 is coupled to stem 57. Retainer 63 is axially spaced from base 14 and is preferably non-removably affixed to stem .57 at or near the terminal end 65 of stem 57. Retainer 63 extends radially outwardly from stem 57 and may suitably be circular disc-shaped. Stem 57 passes through a portion 67 of first ornament 21 which is located between base 14 and retainer 63 and is preferably of a maximum radial dimension which exceeds the maximum radial dimension of the aperture 59 of first ornament 21.

In the embodiment of FIG. 2, fastener 25 consists of a snap fastener 30 having a male portion 31 which is non-removably mounted to retainer 63. Alternatively, the male portion 31 of fastener 25 and retainer 63 could be formed as an integral unit, if desired. A female portion 32 of fastener 25 is non-removably affixed to second ornament 23. To detachably couple a particular second ornament 23 to first ornament 21, male portion 31 and female portion 32 detachably mechanically engage one another as illustrated in FIG. 2. To alter the appearance of adornment 1, second ornament 23. and its attached female portion of fastener 25, can quickly and easily be manually detached from male portion 21 and the remainder of adornment 10 and replaced with a different second ornament 23 which is permanently attached to a dedicated female portion 32 of its own.

As illustrated in FIGS. 3, 4 and 5, a third preferred embodiment of an interchangeable adornment 10 includes a permanent magnet 34 which is mounted in a recess 55 formed in a cylindrical base 14. A first ornament 23, in this case, an artificial flower 42 is non-removably mounted to base 14 by a stem 57 which axially penetrates a series of mutually-aligned apertures 70, 59, 72 and 74 which penetrate a circular disc-shaped retainer 63, artificial flower 42, base 14 and permanent magnet 34, respectively. Stem 57 may be secured by being press-fitted into the aperture 74 in permanent magnet 34 or may be secured therein using epoxy or any other suitable adhesive. Stem 57 terminates with a male portion 31 of a snap fastener 30 which is optionally but preferably formed as an integral unit with stem 57. Male portion 31 preferably includes a lower shoulder 77 which facially abuts a portion of the upper surface of retainer 63 in order to secure retainer 63 against detachment. A second ornament 23 consisting of a gem 44 is permanently connected, by adhesive bonding or in any other suitable manner, to a female portion 31 of snap fastener 30 which detachably attaches to male portion 31.

While the invention has been described with reference to various preferred embodiments, it should be understood by those skilled in the art that various changes may be made and equivalents substituted for elements thereof without departing from the scope of the invention. In addition, many modifications may be made to adapt a particular situation or material to the teachings of the invention without departing from the essential scope thereof. Therefore, it is intended that the invention not be limited to the particular embodiments disclosed but that the invention will include all embodiments falling within the scope of the appended claims, either literally or under the Doctrine of Equivalents.

Claims

1. An adornment for a fashion article, said adornment comprising:

(a) a base;

(b) a first attachment element coupled to said base for detachably attaching said base to a surface of the fashion article at an arbitrary location on said surface and in an arbitrary orientation relative to said surface without penetrating said surface;

(c) a first ornament coupled to said base;

(d) a second ornament detachably coupled to said first ornament by way of a fastener.

2. An adornment as claimed in claim 1 further comprising a stem projecting from said base and a retainer coupled to said stem and extending radially outwardly from said stem, said first ornament being mounted on said stem, at least a portion of said stem passing through a portion of said first ornament located between said base and said retainer.

3. An adornment as claimed in claim 2 wherein said first attachment element comprises an attachment element selected from the group consisting of: a permanent magnet, a magnetically attractable member, a piece of hook material and a piece of loop material.

4. An adornment as claimed in claim 2 wherein said fastener comprises a attachment element selected from the group consisting of: a permanent magnet, a magnetically attractable member, a piece of hook material, a piece of loop material, a snap fastener male portion, and a snap fastener female portion.

5. An adornment as claimed in claim 3, wherein at least one of said first ornament and said second ornament comprises an ornament selected from the group consisting of: a ribbon, an artificial flower, a bow, a gem, an artificial gem, a stone, a bead, and a feather a representation of a creature, a representation of a plant, a representation of a character.