Magnetic Collar Stud Assembly

Abstract

There is provided in a preferred embodiment of the present invention a collar stud assembly comprising a spherical magnet and an outer assembly. The outer assembly includes a frame which houses a magnet. The magnet of the frame and the spherical magnet are of opposite polarities and hold an inner collar and an outer collar of shirt between them when engaged. The outer assembly further includes an indent which holds the spherical magnet in a fixed position relative to the outer assembly.

Description

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

This invention relates generally to the field of clothing accessories. More specifically, this invention involves a magnetic collar stud assembly for securing a shirt collar in place. In a preferred embodiment, the magnetic collar stud assembly includes two magnets of opposite polarities where one magnet is positioned inside the shirt and the other magnet is positioned outside the collar.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Various accessories currently exist for holding the collar of a traditional button-down shirt in place. One of the most popular accessories is a pair of collar stays. Collar stays are long, flat and typically plastic structures that are positioned inside a collar to hold the collar in place.

An additional accessory for holding a collar in place is a pair of traditional collar studs. Collar studs generally include a decorative side and an attachment side. In the most common example of a collar stud, the decorative side and the attachment side are connected by a thin rod. The collar studs generally act by forcing the decorative side through a slit in the inner collar of a shirt and then through a slit in the outer collar of the same shirt. The thin rod is positioned inside the two slits and the decorative side and the attachment side hold the collar against the shirt in a fixed position.

The traditional collar studs are limited for several reasons. First, the traditional collar studs require a pair of slits in the shirt collar for inserting the thin rod. Thus, traditional collar studs cannot be worn on shirts that do not have specially made slits in the collar. Second, traditional collar studs are limited to a fixed position—the position of the slits. It is not possible to position traditional collar studs other than at the slits without forming additional slits on the collar, which would be unsightly.

Magnetic elements have previously been used in the clothing field and for the specific use of keeping a shirt collar aligned and fastened. U.S. Pat. No. 7,409,730 to Boos (hereafter “Boos”) discloses a Method and Apparatus for Keeping a Shirt Collar Aligned and Fastened Magnetically. Boos discloses a metal collar stay insertable into a conventional collar stay pocket and a magnet, magnetically attachable to the collar stay through the shirt front, for holding the collar in the selected position. Boos further discloses one or more detents in the collar stay for preventing relative longitudinal movement between the magnet and the collar stay. The magnet disclosed in Boos is flat and may be difficult to handle with one's fingers.

U.S. Pat. No. 5,974,634 to Eisenpresser (hereafter “Eisenpresser”) discloses a decorative multi-use magnetic button construction which includes a decorative shell having a cavity containing a first magnet. The first magnet contacts a base of the construction and the base contacts a garment. The construction is held in place on the fabric by attraction to a second magnet on the opposite side of the magnet. The device of Eisenpresser lacks a mechanism for holding the magnets in place beyond their inherent magnetic attractive forces. Further, similar to the device of Boos, the Eisenpresser device is flat and may be difficult to handle with one's fingers.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In view of the deficiencies and drawbacks relating to securing a collar in place, it is a primary object of the present invention to provide a magnetic collar stud assembly.

A further object of the present invention is to provide an improved magnetic collar stud assembly that is more secure than existing devices for securing a shirt collar.

In summary, there is provided in a preferred embodiment of the present invention A collar stud assembly for selectively securing a collar to a shirt, comprising an outer decorative assembly, the outer decorative assembly including a frame and a first magnet having a first polarity; a second magnet, the second magnet being spherical and having a second polarity opposite to the first polarity; wherein the frame includes an indent, the indent adapted to match the curvature of the second spherical magnet.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a top, front, left side perspective view of a shirt collar being secured by a preferred embodiment of the magnetic collar studs of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is an exploded view of the preferred embodiment of the magnetic collar studs of the present invention;

FIG. 3 is a top, back, right side perspective view of the preferred embodiment of the magnetic collar studs of the present invention, as applied to a portion of a shirt collar;

FIG. 4 is a cross-section view thereof, taken along line 4-4 of FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 is a front elevation view of a shirt collar being secured by a preferred embodiment of the magnetic collar studs of the present invention, where the shirt collar is positioned in a traditional position;

FIG. 6 is a cross-section view thereof; taken along line 6-6 of FIG. 5;

FIG. 7 is a front elevation view of a shirt collar being secured by a preferred embodiment of the magnetic collars studs of the present invention, where the shirt collar is positioned in a spread position;

FIG. 8 is a cross-section view thereof; taken along line 8-8 of FIG. 7; and

FIG. 9 is a perspective view of a pair of the magnetic collar studs of the present invention, magnetically connected in a synchronized manner.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

With reference to FIGS. 1 and 2, there is shown a preferred embodiment of a collar stud assembly 100. The collar stud assembly 100 includes an outer assembly 105 and a spherical magnet 110. As shown in FIG. 1, the outer assembly 105 is positioned on the outside of an outer collar 210 of a shirt 200 and the spherical magnet is positioned inside an inner collar 220 of the shirt 200. The collar stud assembly 100 holds the outer collar 210 against the inner collar 220 in a fixed position.

The outer assembly 105 includes a frame 115, a magnet 120 having a first polarity, and a decorative cover 125. The frame 115 further includes an indent 130 and a cavity 135. The cavity 135 is sized and shaped to contain the magnet 120 and the decorative cover 125. Preferably, the magnet 120 is positioned inside the cavity 135 and the decorative cover 125 is fixed to the frame 115 thereby securing the magnet 120 inside the cavity 135.

As illustrated in FIGS. 3 and 4, the collar stud assembly 100 is adapted to selectively secure an outer collar 210 to an inner collar 220 of a shirt 200. The spherical magnet 110 has a second polarity which is opposite the first polarity of the magnet 120. Accordingly, the spherical magnet 110 and the outer assembly 105 are magnetically attracted to each other. Thus, when spherical magnet 110 is positioned on the inside of the inner collar 220 and the outer assembly 105 is positioned opposite the spherical magnet 110 on the outside of the outer collar 210, the friction between the inner collar 220 and the outer collar 210 hold the inner collar 220 and the outer collar 210 in a fixed relative position. Further, the friction between the frame 115 and the outer collar 210, holds the frame 115 and the outer collar 210 in a fixed relative position.

The spherical magnet 110 is held in a fixed position relative to the frame 115 by the indent 130. The indent 130 is shaped and sized to match the curvature of the spherical magnet 110. As best shown in the cross-section view of FIG. 4, the indent 130 in the frame 115 receives portions of the outer collar 210 and the inner collar 220 when the spherical magnet 110 is engaged with the magnet 120 of the outer assembly 105.

The positioning of the portions of the outer collar 210 and the inner collar 220 in the indent 130 creates a shadow indent 230 in the collars. See FIG. 4. The shadow indent 230 receives a portion of the spherical magnet 110. Thus, the indent 130 holds the spherical magnet 110 in a fixed position relative to the outer assembly 105.

In the preferred embodiment, the frame is cylindrical and includes a frame base 117. The frame base represents to the bottom side of the frame, i.e. the side furthest from the decorative cover 125. In the preferred embodiment, the indent 130 has a depth which is one third the width of the frame base.

The magnetic collar stud assembly 100 is removed from the shirt 200 by griping the spherical magnet 110 in between one's thumb and index finger and griping the outer assembly 105 between the thumb and the index finger of one's opposite hand. The spherical shape of the spherical magnet 105 make the spherical magnet 105 easier to grip and thus easier to remove and attach.

As illustrated in FIGS. 5 through 8, the collar stud assembly 100 allows a shirt to be worn in either a traditional manner (See FIG. 5) or a spread collar manner (See FIG. 7). In the traditional manner, two of the collar stud assemblies 100 are positioned close to the center and relatively lower on the shirt 200. To switch from the traditional manner to the spread collar manner, the two collar study assemblies 100 are moved away from each other and high on the shirt 200, against the friction of the shirt 200.

Both the spherical magnet 110 and the magnet 120 are preferably constructed of neodymium magnets in the N42 to N52 range. Neodynium magnets are made from an alloy of neodymium, iron, and boron to form an Nd₂Fe₁₄B tetragonal crystalline structure. Neodynium magnets are one of the strongest types of permanent magnet currently available. It has been found that using strong magnets such as neodymium magnets prevent the collar stud assembly from detaching during use.

FIG. 9 illustrates a pair of collar stud assemblies 100 and 100a that are magnetically connected to each other for display or storage. In the preferred embodiment, a spherical magnet 110 of the collar stud assembly 100 has a magnetic polarity that is opposite the magnetic polarity of a second spherical magnet 110a. Thus, the spherical magnet 110 and the second spherical magnet 110a are magnetically connected to each other. Since the spherical magnet 110 and the outer assembly 105 also have opposite polarities, the out assembly 105 and the second magnet 110a have the same polarity and will repel each other. Thus, the pair of collar stud assemblies 100 and 100a will tend to form a string with the two spherical magnets 110 and 110a in the center and the two outer assemblies 105 and 105a at the ends.

The accompanying drawings illustrate only a preferred embodiment of a magnetic collar stud assembly and its respective constituent parts and steps, however, other types and styles are possible, and the drawings are not intended to be limited in that regard. Thus, although the description above and accompanying drawings contains much specificity, the details provided should not be construed as limiting the scope of the embodiments but merely as providing illustrations of some of the presently preferred embodiments. The drawings and the description are not to be taken as restrictive on the scope of the embodiments and are understood as broad and general teachings in accordance with the present invention. While the present embodiments of the invention have been described using specific terms, such description is for present illustrative purposes only, and it is to be understood that modifications and variations to such embodiments, including but not limited to the substitutions of equivalent features, materials, or parts, and the reversal of various features thereof, may be practiced by those of ordinary skill in the art without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.

Claims

1. A collar stud assembly for selectively securing a collar to a shirt without requiring any slits in the shirt, the assembly comprising:

an outer assembly, the outer assembly including a frame, a cover and a first magnet having a first polarity; and

a second magnet, the second magnet having a second polarity opposite to the first polarity;

wherein the frame includes an indent, the indent adapted to match the shape of the second magnet.

2. The collar stud assembly of claim 1, wherein the second magnet is spherical.

3. The collar stud assembly of claim 2, wherein the indent is concave and matches the curvature of the spherical second magnet.

4. The collar stud assembly of claim 1, wherein the first magnet is a button magnet.

5. A method of adjusting the position of a shirt collar from a first position on a shirt to a second position on the shirt, the method comprising the steps of:

positioning a first magnet inside the shirt and a second magnet opposite the first magnet outside the shirt collar, wherein the first magnet is magnetically attracted to the second magnet;

moving all of the collar, the first magnet and the second magnet, relative to the shirt, wherein the first magnet remains opposite the second magnet, and fixed relative to the collar.

6. The method of adjusting the position of a collar of claim 5, wherein the first magnet is spherical in shape.

7. The method of adjusting the position of a collar of claim 5, wherein the second magnet includes an indent sized to match the shape of the first magnet.

10. A pair of magnetically adhered collar stud assemblies arranged for display or storage, comprising:

a first outer assembly, the first outer assembly including a frame, a cover and a first magnet having a first polarity; and

a second magnet, the second magnet having a second polarity opposite to the first polarity;

a second outer assembly, the second outer assembly including a frame, a cover and a third magnet having the first polarity;

a fourth magnet, the fourth magnet having the first polarity;

wherein the first outer assembly is magnetically adhered to the second magnet, the second magnet is magnetically adhered to the fourth magnet, and the fourth magnet is magnetically adhered to the second outer assembly.

11. The pair of magnetically adhered collar stud assemblies arranged for display or storage of claim 10, wherein the second magnet and the fourth magnet are spherical magnets.