UNDERGARMENTS HAVING STATIC CLING WAISTBANDS

Abstract

An undergarment that includes a waistband, lower torso covering portion, leg holes, and ring. The lower torso covering portion includes a first protecting portion, second protecting portion, and third protecting portion. The waistband is affixed to the lower torso covering portion. The leg holes are positioned on the lower torso covering portion opposite the waistband. The ring is circumferentially affixed to an inner surface of the waistband. The ring includes a cling material that produces an electrostatic force that demountably affixes the waistband to an epithelial surface when the undergarment is worn. The cling material includes a silica gel and curing agent (e.g., phenolic resin, acid anhydride, carboxylic acid, and a polyamine) The ring can include a plurality of iconic indicia laterally positioned proximate to each other. The ring is affixed to the lower torso covering portion via threading and/or adhesive.

Description

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates generally to undergarments. More specifically, the present invention relates to undergarments having static cling waistbands.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Certainly, static cling materials are not a new concept in and of themselves. In the decoration and education industries, various items that use cling technology are currently being manufactured. Such items may use cling technology to adhere a small item of static cling material to a generally larger smooth surface such as a billboard, sign, card, or window dressing.

Likewise, a static cling vinyl can be combined with a second plastic sheet to create an inexpensive, temporary sign or banner. Greeting cards can use cling technology to attach small objects to a card. Both banners and cards can use a static cling material as well as a nonporous smooth surface as a base element. However, such materials have not yet been used for undergarment waistbands.

Adhesives can be used to combine the ends of a thin, flexible, elongated strip. Others may employ a nonremovable snap fastener. However, items attached using the form of these methods that are currently available often cannot be removed without damaging the item itself.

Accordingly, when items must be removed for later use, users may be forced to purchase an entirely new item if it is damaged by the removal, so that use of such methods can be costly. In addition, adhesives may not be safe when used to attach wearable items (e.g., undergarments) to user's skin.

Thus, there is a need to develop a composition of cling technology materials for use in undergarment, allowing easy removal and secure attachment of these garments.

The present invention is intended to solve and/or improve on conventional devices through an innovative composition designed to provide a convenient means of keeping a waistband in place while comfortably clinging to the user's skin.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Some of the embodiments will be described in detail, with reference to the following figures, wherein like designations denote like members, wherein:

FIG. 1 depicts a perspective view of a waistband, according to some embodiments.

FIG. 2 depicts a front view of an undergarment, according to other embodiments.

FIG. 3 depicts a front view of an undergarment, according to yet still other embodiments.

FIG. 4 depicts a cross-section of the waistband and a ring, according to certain embodiments.

FIG. 5 depicts a plurality of iconic indicia positioned on the waistband, according to yet still other embodiments.

FIG. 6 depicts a perspective view of an undergarment, according to some embodiments.

FIG. 7 depicts process steps for a method to form undergarments, according to other embodiments.

Unless otherwise specifically noted, articles depicted in the drawings are not necessarily drawn to scale.

DETAIL DESCRIPTIONS OF THE INVENTION

As a preliminary matter, it will readily be understood by one having ordinary skill in the relevant art that the present disclosure has broad utility and application. As should be understood, any embodiment may incorporate only one or a plurality of the above-disclosed aspects of the disclosure and may further incorporate only one or a plurality of the above-disclosed features. Furthermore, any embodiment discussed and identified as being “preferred” is considered to be part of a best mode contemplated for carrying out the embodiments of the present disclosure. Other embodiments also may be discussed for additional illustrative purposes in providing a full and enabling disclosure. Moreover, many embodiments, such as adaptations, variations, modifications, and equivalent arrangements, will be implicitly disclosed by the embodiments described herein and fall within the scope of the present disclosure.

Accordingly, while embodiments are described herein in detail in relation to one or more embodiments, it is to be understood that this disclosure is illustrative and exemplary of the present disclosure and are made merely for the purposes of providing a full and enabling disclosure. The detailed disclosure herein of one or more embodiments is not intended, nor is to be construed, to limit the scope of patent protection afforded in any claim of a patent issuing here from, which scope is to be defined by the claims and the equivalents thereof. It is not intended that the scope of patent protection be defined by reading into any claim a limitation found herein that does not explicitly appear in the claim itself.

Thus, for example, any sequence(s) and/or temporal order of steps of various processes or methods that are described herein are illustrative and not restrictive. Accordingly, it should be understood that, although steps of various processes or methods may be shown and described as being in a sequence or temporal order, the steps of any such processes or methods are not limited to being carried out in any particular sequence or order, absent an indication otherwise. Indeed, the steps in such processes or methods generally may be carried out in various different sequences and orders while still falling within the scope of the present disclosure. Accordingly, it is intended that the scope of patent protection is to be defined by the issued claim(s) rather than the description set forth herein.

Additionally, it is important to note that each term used herein refers to that which an ordinary artisan would understand such term to mean based on the contextual use of such term herein. To the extent that the meaning of a term used herein—as understood by the ordinary artisan based on the contextual use of such term—differs in any way from any particular dictionary definition of such term, it is intended that the meaning of the term as understood by the ordinary artisan should prevail.

Furthermore, it is important to note that, as used herein, “a” and “an” each generally denotes “at least one,” but does not exclude a plurality unless the contextual use dictates otherwise. When used herein to join a list of items, “or” denotes “at least one of the items,” but does not exclude a plurality of items of the list. Finally, when used herein to join a list of items, “and” denotes “all of the items of the list.”

The following detailed description refers to the accompanying drawings. Wherever possible, the same reference numbers are used in the drawings and the following description to refer to the same or similar elements. While many embodiments of the disclosure may be described, modifications, adaptations, and other implementations are possible. For example, substitutions, additions, or modifications may be made to the elements illustrated in the drawings, and the methods described herein may be modified by substituting, reordering, or adding stages to the disclosed methods. Accordingly, the following detailed description does not limit the disclosure. Instead, the proper scope of the disclosure is defined by the appended claims. The present disclosure contains headers. It should be understood that these headers are used as references and are not to be construed as limiting upon the subjected matter disclosed under the header.

Other technical advantages may become readily apparent to one of ordinary skill in the art after review of the following figures and description. It should be understood at the outset that, although exemplary embodiments are illustrated in the figures and described below, the principles of the present disclosure may be implemented using any number of techniques, whether currently known or not. The present disclosure should in no way be limited to the exemplary implementations and techniques illustrated in the drawings and described below.

Unless otherwise indicated, the drawings are intended to be read together with the specification and are to be considered a portion of the entire written description of this invention. As used in the following description, the terms “horizontal”, “vertical”, “left”, “right”, “up”, “down” and the like, as well as adjectival and adverbial derivatives thereof (e.g., “horizontally”, “rightwardly”, “upwardly”, “radially”, etc.), simply refer to the orientation of the illustrated structure as the particular drawing figure faces the reader. Similarly, the terms “inwardly,” “outwardly” and “radially” generally refer to the orientation of a surface relative to its axis of elongation, or axis of rotation, as appropriate. As used herein, the term “dorsal” refers to positions that are located near, on, or towards the upper or top side of a structure.

The present disclosure includes many aspects and features. Moreover, while many aspects and features relate to, and are described in the context of undergarments, embodiments of the present disclosure are not limited to use only in this context.

The instant disclosure seeks to disclose waistbands having cling material to assist in keeping the waistband in place when donned. The instant disclosure seeks to provide undergarments that incorporate the waistband. The instant disclosure seeks to provide cling material that produces an electrostatic force that demountably affixes the waistband to an epithelial surface. The instant disclosure seeks to provide waistbands for male or female undergarments.

FIG. 1 depicts a perspective view of a waistband, generally 100, according to some embodiments. The waistband 100 includes at least one ring 105 that is circumferentially affixed to an inner-surface 110 of the waistband 100. The waistband 100 can be used with male or female undergarments. As depicted in FIGS. 2-3, the waistband 100 facilitates the wearing of undergarments that are designed to be worn on the user's lower extremity (e.g., undergarment 100 and undergarment 200). The waistband 100 is a strip of material that is either elastic or some other confining fabric that is configured to encircle the waist. The waistband 100 can include one or more layers of elastic or confining fabric. The waistband 100 can include rubber, latex, and/or similar polymers. The ring 105 includes a cling material that produces an electrostatic force that demountably affixes the waistband 100 to an epithelial surface 405 when the undergarments (e.g., the undergarment 200 or the undergarment 300) are worn, as depicted in FIG. 4. In general, the ring can be of any suitable shape and size to facilitate one or more embodiments. The ring 105 is preferably affixed to the waistband 100 via threading and/or an adhesive(s).

In some embodiments, the ring 105 is a plurality of iconic indicia 505 that are laterally positioned proximate to each other. For example, the iconic indicia 505 can be a logo that includes a plurality of different shapes, sizes, colors, and/or patterns. In other words, the iconic indicia 505 are made using the cling material.

The cling material preferably includes a silica gel and a curing agent(s). Although a plurality of applicable curing agents are known, the preferred curing agents include a phenolic resin, acid anhydride, carboxylic acid, a polyamine, or a combination of two or more thereof. The cling material preferably include nonlatex material that are known to not irritate the skin. The ring 105 exerts a radial tugging holds the undergarment fast to the user's waist, with the ring 105 providing the surfaces that attach to the user's skin with sufficient shear strength to keep the waistband 100 in place, clinging to the user's skin while remaining comfortable.

FIG. 2 depicts a front view of the undergarment 200, according to other embodiments. The undergarment 200 can be a male or female undergarment. The waistband 100 is affixed to a lower torso covering portion 205. The instant disclosure seeks to provide cling technology material that can be used as an enhancement to the waistband of undergarments. The cling technology is designed to help keep the undergarment waistband in place by clinging to the user's skin while remaining comfortable. The lower torso covering portion 205 can be made of similar material as found in the undergarments known in the art. The lower torso covering portion 205 includes a first protecting portion 210, a second protecting portion 215, and a third protecting portion 220. The first protecting portion 210 is coupled to the second protecting portion 215 and the third protecting portion. The second protecting portion 215 is positioned opposite the third protecting portion 220. The first protecting portion 210 is configured to cover the user's crotch area. The first protecting portion 210 and the second protecting portion 215 can be any length (e.g., they may extend to the user's crotch area, thighs, knees, ankles, or toes).

The second protecting portion 215 and the third protecting portion 220 are configured to receive and protect the user's left and right upper thigh region. The second protecting portion 215 and the third protecting portion 220 each include a leg hole 225. In other words, the leg holes 225 are positioned on the lower torso protecting portion 205 opposite the waistband 110. FIG. 3 depicts a front view of the undergarment 300, according to other embodiments. The undergarment 300 can be a male or female undergarment. The undergarment 300 includes the waistband 100 affixed to the lower torso protecting portion 306. The lower torso protecting portion 306 includes a first protecting portion 310, a second protecting portion 315, and a third protecting portion 320.

The first protecting portion 310, a second protecting portion 315, and a third protecting portion 320 are similar in positioning and functioning and include similar materials compared to the first protecting portion 210, the second protecting portion 215, and the third protecting portion 220, respectively. The lower torso covering portion 306 is similar in positioning and functioning and includes similar materials compared to the lower torso covering portion 205. The first protecting portion 310 and the second protecting portion 315 can be any length (e.g., they may extend to the user's crotch area, thighs, knees, ankles, or toes) to facilitate one or more embodiments.

FIG. 7 depicts process steps for a method to form undergarments, according to other embodiments. At Step 700, a solution is formed by combining silica gel and a curing agent. The curing agent is a substance that can be used to harden the silica gel. The curing agents include, but are not limited to, phenolic resin type, acid anhydride type, carboxylic acid type, and polyamine type curing agents. The solution can be made by first processing the silica gel and adding each curing agent in the desired percentage. In preferred embodiments, the curing agent is present in the solution at about 10 to 20 weight percent. The formulation of the cling material complies with the spirit and intent of existing and pending regulations of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), and thus only the EPA approved silica and curing agents can be used. The EPA safety code for the curing agents can be 1350, 1351, and 1360.

The silica gel can be produced by feeding of an acid and water glass solution through a narrow tube into a large container. The silica gel with high viscosity will form in the container. Upon complete silica gel formation, the container can be tipped downward and a piston can be used to force the silica gel out of the container and through a series of mesh screens of differing gauge in order to slice the large gel mass into discrete cubic shapes. The resultant small gel cubes can be ammoniated and subjected to heating for a sufficient time to provide a desired pore size level and reinforcement simultaneously.

Silica gel's high specific surface area allows it to adsorb water readily, making it useful as a drying agent. Silica gel removes moisture by adsorption onto the surface of its numerous pores. Silica gel is non-toxic, non-flammable, and non-reactive and stable with ordinary usage. Thus, when used in garments, silica gel can provide safe and secure attachment to user's skin, maintaining proper humidity. The reactivity of the curing agent with the silica gel may cause different gelation and may affect the resultant material's characteristics including bonding and coating in such properties as water resistance, toughness and corrosion resistance. Thus, the soft gel material produced by silica and curing agents can provide easy removal and secure attachment when used for items in direct contact with user's skin.

FIG. 7 depicts process steps for a method to form undergarments, according to other embodiments. At Step 705, a waistband 100 is formed. At Step 710, a lower torso covering portion 205 is formed that includes a first protecting portion 210, a second protecting portion 215, and a third protecting portion 220. To be sure, this process step can be used to form a lower torso covering portion 306 that includes a first protecting portion 310, a second protecting portion 315, and a third protecting portion 320. At Step 715, a ring is formed using the solution to produce an electrostatic force that demountably affixes the waistband 100 to an epithelial surface when the undergarment is worn. At Step 720, the waistband 100 is affixed to the lower torso covering portion (e.g., the lower torso covering portion 205 and the lower torso covering portion 306). At Step 725, the ring is affixed to the inner surface 110 of the waistband 100.

Although the invention has been explained in relation to its preferred embodiment, it is to be understood that many other possible modifications and variations can be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.

Claims

1. An undergarment comprising:

a waistband;

a lower torso covering portion;

leg holes;

a ring;

wherein the lower torso covering portion comprises a first protecting portion, a second protecting portion, and a third protecting portion; the waistband is affixed to the lower torso covering portion; the leg holes are positioned on the lower torso covering portion opposite the waistband; the ring is circumferentially affixed to an inner surface of the waistband; the ring comprises a cling material that produces an electrostatic force that demountably affixes the waistband to an epithelial surface when the undergarment is worn.

2. The undergarment of claim 1, wherein

the cling material comprises: silica gel; and a curing agent.

3. The undergarment of claim 2, wherein

the curing agent comprises one or more of: a phenolic resin; acid anhydride; carboxylic acid; and a polyamine.

4. The undergarment of claim 3, wherein

the ring comprises a plurality of iconic indicia laterally positioned proximate to each other.

5. The undergarment of claim 4, wherein

the ring is affixed to the waistband via threading.

6. The undergarment of claim 4, wherein

the ring is affixed to the waistband via an adhesive.

7. A method of forming an undergarment, comprising:

forming a solution by combining silica gel and a curing agent;

forming a waistband;

forming a lower torso covering portion that comprises: a first protecting portion; a second protecting portion; a third protecting portion; leg holes;

forming a ring using the solution;

affixing the waistband to the lower torso covering portion;

affixing the ring to an inner surface of the waistband;

wherein the leg holes are positioned on the lower torso covering portion opposite the waistband;

wherein the ring produces an electrostatic force that demountably affixes the waistband to an epithelial surface when the undergarment is worn.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein

the curing agent comprises one or more of: a phenolic resin; acid anhydride; carboxylic acid; and a polyamine.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein the curing agent is present in the solution at 10-20 wt %.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein

forming the ring comprises: forming a plurality of iconic indicia using the solution; and positioning each of the iconic indicia lateral and proximate to each to other.

11. The method of claim 9, wherein

affixing the ring to an inner surface of the waistband comprises affixing the ring to the waistband via threading.

12. The method of claim 9, wherein

affixing the ring to an inner surface of the waistband comprises affixing the ring to the waistband via an adhesive.

13. A method of forming an undergarment, comprising:

forming a solution by combining silica gel and a curing agent;

forming a waistband;

forming a lower torso covering portion that comprises: a first protecting portion; a second protecting portion; a third protecting portion; leg holes;

forming a ring using the solution;

affixing the waistband to the lower torso covering portion;

affixing the ring to an inner surface of the waistband;

wherein the leg holes are positioned on the lower torso covering portion opposite the waist band;

wherein the ring produces an electrostatic force that demountably affixes the waistband to an epithelial surface when the undergarment is worn;

wherein the curing agent comprises one or more of: a phenolic resin; acid anhydride; carboxylic acid; and a polyamine.

14. The method of claim 13, wherein the curing agent is present in the solution at 10-20 wt %.

15. The method of claim 14, wherein forming the ring comprises:

forming a plurality of iconic indicia using the solution; and

positioning each of the iconic indicia lateral and proximate to each to other.

16. The method of claim 15, wherein

affixing the ring to an inner surface of the waistband comprises affixing the ring to the waistband via threading.

17. The method of claim 15, wherein

affixing the ring to an inner surface of the waistband comprises affixing the ring to the waistband via an adhesive.