FASHION ACCESSORY

Abstract

A fashion accessory includes a band having first and second ends, and top and bottom surfaces. The bottom surface of the band has a plurality of fastener elements, and the top surface of the band has a fastener element on the first end and a fastener element on the second end. Each fastener element on the bottom surface is capable of engaging to one of the fastener elements on the top surface.

Description

FIELD

[0001] The present disclosure relates to a fashion accessory.

BACKGROUND

[0002] Fashion accessories are known and exist in many forms. Fashion accessories are commonly designed to adorn specific objects or certain parts of the body and the ability to use the same fashion accessory to adorn other objects or other parts of the body is sometimes limited.

SUMMARY

[0003] One aspect of this disclosure features a fashion accessory that includes a band. The band has first and second ends, and top and bottom surfaces. The bottom surface of the band has a plurality of fastener elements, and the top surface of the band has a fastener element on the first end and a fastener element on the second end. Each fastener element on the bottom surface is capable of engaging to one of the fastener elements on the top surface.

[0004] In some implementations, the fastener elements on the bottom surface of the band are spaced such that one of the fastener elements on the bottom surface of the band is capable of being selectively engaged to the fastener element on the top surface of the band on the first end to form a loop with a portion of the band, and another of the fastener elements on the bottom surface of the band is capable of being selectively engaged to one of the fastener elements on the top surface of the band on the second end to form one or more additional loops with the remaining portion of the band. In some implementations, two neighboring fastener elements on the bottom surface of the band can have an average distance of from about 7.62 mm to about 25.4 mm. In some implementations, the loops are large enough to encircle a boot, a cloth, or a body part of a person.

[0005] In some implementations, the band is a flexible band.

[0006] In some implementations, the band is made from leather, a polymer, natural fibers, or a combination thereof.

[0007] In some implementations, the fastener elements on the bottom surface are snap fastener elements, and the fastener elements on the top surface are snap fastener elements that are complementary to the snap fastener elements on the bottom surface.

[0008] In some implementations, the snap fastener elements on the bottom surface are female snap fastener elements, and the snap fastener elements on the top surface are male snap fastener elements.

[0009] In some implementations, the snap fastener elements are magnetic snap fastener elements.

[0010] In some implementations, the magnetic snap fastener elements on the top surface have a greater strength than the magnetic snap fastener elements on the bottom surface.

[0011] Another aspect of this disclosure features a fashion accessory that includes first and second bands. Each of the first and second bands has first and second ends, and top and bottom surfaces. The bottom surface of each band has a plurality of fastener elements and the top surface of each band has a fastener element on each of the first and second ends. One of the fastener elements on the bottom surface of the first band is engaged to the fastener element on the top surface of the first end of the second band to form a longer band.

[0012] In some implementations, another fastener element on the bottom surface of the first band is engaged to the fastener element on the top surface of the second end of the second band such that the longer band forms a loop.

[0013] In some implementations, the loop is large enough to encircle a person's waist.

[0014] In some implementations, the first or second band is a flexible band.

[0015] In some implementations, the first or second band is made from leather, a polymer, natural fibers, or a combination thereof.

[0016] In some implementations, the fastener elements on the bottom surface of each band are snap fastener elements, and the fastener elements on the top surface of each band are snap fastener elements that are complementary to the snap fastener elements on the bottom surface.

[0017] In some implementations, the snap fastener elements on the bottom surface of each band are female snap fastener elements, and the snap fastener elements on the top surface of each band are male snap fastener elements.

[0018] In some implementations, each of the snap fastener elements on the first and second bands is a magnetic snap fastener element.

[0019] In another aspect, this disclosure features a method for adorning an object with a fashion accessory. The method includes providing a fashion accessory that includes a band having first and second ends, and top and bottom surfaces. The bottom surface of the band has a plurality of fastener elements, and the top surface of the band has a fastener element on the first end and a fastener element on the second end. Each fastener element on the bottom surface is capable of engaging to one of the fastener elements on the top surface. In addition, the method includes wrapping a portion of the band around the object, the portion of the band including the first end of the band. The method further includes engaging the fastener element on the top surface of the band on the first end to one of the fastener elements on the bottom surface of the band to secure the portion of the band around the object. The method further includes wrapping a remaining portion of the band around the object one or more times, and engaging the fastener element on the top surface of the band on the second end to one of the fastener elements on the bottom surface of the band to secure the remaining portion of the band around the object.

[0020] In some implementations, the object is a boot, a cloth, or a body part of a person.

[0021] Certain implementations may provide various advantages. For example, a fashion accessory with a plurality of fastener elements enables a person to adorn a variety of surfaces of different sizes including a boot, a person's forearm, or a person's ankle. Additionally, a fashion accessory may contain a variety of decorative elements/embellishments, providing an opportunity to adorn a surface with a variety of decorative elements/embellishments. In some implementations, a fashion accessory can be wrapped around a surface a number of times to adjust the fit of the fashion accessory around a surface or to adjust the visual effect created by fashion accessory on the surface.

[0022] In addition, or as an alternative, in certain implementations, a first fashion accessory with a plurality of fastener elements can be connected to a second fashion accessory with a plurality of fastener elements so that, for example, the fashion accessory is extended in length. An extended fashion accessory enables a person to adorn a greater variety of surfaces. An extended fashion accessory also provides an opportunity to adorn a surface with a mix of decorative elements/embellishments from the first accessory and decorative elements/embellishments from the second accessory.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0023] FIG. 1A is a bottom view of an embodiment of a fashion accessory.

[0024] FIG. 1B is a top view of an embodiment of a fashion accessory.

[0025] FIG. 1C is a side view of an embodiment of a fashion accessory.

[0026] FIG. 2 is a side view of an embodiment of a fashion accessory containing spikes as decorative elements.

[0027] FIGS. 3-4 illustrate an exemplary way to use a fashion accessory to adorn a boot.

[0028] FIG. 5 illustrates the fashion accessory shown in FIGS. 1A-1C being adorned on a person's forearm.

[0029] FIG. 6 illustrates the fashion accessory shown in FIGS. 1A-1C being adorned on a person's ankle.

[0030] FIG. 7 illustrates an exemplary way to use the fashion accessory of FIGS. 1A-1C to form a loop.

[0031] FIGS. 8-10 illustrate an exemplary way to form a fashion accessory by connecting two bands together.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0032] A fashion accessory is disclosed herein in the form of a decorative device that can be used to adorn various parts of the body. The fashion accessory can also be used to adorn objects such as footwear or cloth. The fashion accessory is easily adjustable to fit around the surface that it is used to adorn. The fashion accessory can include various decorative elements (e.g., jewels, crystals, spikes, or studs) and include different colors, patterns, textures and combinations thereof. When used with footwear, for example, the fashion accessory provides a convenient way for a person to temporarily change the look of the footwear.

[0033] Referring to FIGS. 1A-1C, a fashion accessory includes a band 10. The band 10 can be made of a flexible element. The flexible element can be, for example, a leather, a polymer, natural fibers, or a combination thereof.

[0034] The bottom surface of the band 10 can include a plurality of fastener elements 12. In the illustrated example, the fastener elements 12 extend across only a portion of the bottom surface of the band 10. In some implementations, the fastener elements 12 may extend across the entire bottom surface of the band. The space between the fastener elements 12 can vary as desired. For example, the space between the fastener elements can be at least about 7 mm (e.g., at least about 10 mm, at least about 15 mm, at least about 20 mm or at least about 25 mm) and/or at most about 30 mm (at most about 25 mm, at most about 20 mm, or at most about 15 mm). In some embodiments, the space between the fastener elements can range from about 7.62 mm to about 25.4 mm. Typically, the wider the bottom surface of the band 10, the greater the space between the fastener elements 12. In some implementations, the number of fastener elements 12 ranges from 10 to 35.

[0035] The top surface of the band 10 can include one or more (e.g., two or three) fastener elements 14 on each end. In general, the fastener elements 14 are complementary to the fastener elements 12 so that each of the fastener elements 14 can be engaged to any one of the fastener elements 12. The fastener elements 12 and 14 can be, for example, snap fastener elements, magnetic snap fastener elements, or magnets. For example, when the fastener elements 12 on the bottom surface are female snap fastener elements (e.g., female magnetic snap fastener elements), the fastener elements 14 on the top surface are male snap fastener elements (e.g., male magnetic snap fastener elements), and vice versa.

[0036] In some implementations, where fastener elements 12 and 14 are magnetic snap fastener elements, the magnetic snap fastener elements on the top surface have a greater strength than the magnetic snap fastener elements on the bottom surface. The strength of a magnetic snap fastener element refers to the magnetic field strength of the magnetic snap fastener element or the pull force of the magnetic snap fastener element. In some implementations, the magnetic snap fastener elements on the top surface are three times stronger than the magnetic snap fastener elements on the bottom surface.

[0037] The band 10 may be formed by cutting a pattern out of a piece of textile, or by other commonly known techniques in the field. The fastener elements 12 and 14 may be attached to band 10 by gluing the fastener elements 12 and 14 to the band 10, or by other commonly known techniques in the field. In some embodiments, the band may be formed by, for example, two or more long strips with rounded ends cut from a piece of textile. The long strips may be the same size as each other or not, and are glued or sewn together to form the band's top surface and bottom surface. In some embodiments, the fastener elements have prongs, and the band has slits. The fastener elements may be attached to the band by sliding the prongs of the fastener elements through the slits and folding down the prongs.

[0038] In a particular implementation, the band 10 is a strip of leather that is about 80 cm long, 19 mm wide, and 5 thick. The fastener elements 12 on the bottom surface of the band 10 are female magnetic snap fastener elements and are spaced 9.5 mm from each other from one end of the band 10 to the other end. The fastener elements 14 on the top surface of the band 10 are male magnetic snap fastener elements. The fastener elements 12 and 14 are adhered to the top and bottom surface of the band 10 using an adhesive material (e.g., a glue).

[0039] In some implementations, a fashion accessory described herein can include a plurality of decorative elements on the top surface of the band (e.g., between the fastener elements at the two ends on the top surface). Examples of suitable decorative elements include jewels, crystals, spikes, studs, or a combination of different decorative elements. FIG. 2 shows an exemplary fashion accessory that includes a band 10, a plurality of fastener elements 12 on the bottom surface of the band 10, and a fastener element 14 at each end on the top surface of the band 10. In addition, the fashion accessory includes a plurality of spikes 20 on the top surface of the band 10 between the two fastener elements 14.

[0040] Referring to FIGS. 3-4, an exemplary way to use the fashion accessory to adorn a boot is described. The fashion accessory shown in FIG. 3 includes a band 30, a plurality of fastener elements 32 on the bottom surface of the band, a fastener element 34 on one end of the top surface of the band, and a fastener element 36 on the other end of the top surface of the band. Referring particularly to FIG. 3, a portion of band 30, with the bottom surface of the band facing the boot, is wrapped around the boot. This forms a first loop around the boot. The fastener element 34 on the top surface of the band is engaged to one of the fastener elements 32 on the bottom surface of the band so that the loop is secured around the boot.

[0041] FIG. 4 illustrates an exemplary result of the remaining portion of the band 30 being wrapped around the boot an additional time. Specifically, the remaining portion of the band 30 is wrapped around the boot to form a second loop, which is secured by engaging the fastener element 36, shown in FIG. 3, to one of the fastener elements 32, shown in FIG. 3, on the bottom surface of the band.

[0042] FIG. 5 illustrates the fashion accessory shown in FIGS. 1A-1C being adorned on a person's forearm. Specifically, to put the fashion accessory on a person's forearm, a portion of band 10, with the bottom surface of the band against the person's forearm, is first wrapped around a person's forearm once. This forms a single loop around the person's forearm. The fastener element 14 on the top surface of that portion is engaged to one of the fastener elements 12 on the bottom surface of the band 10 so that the loop is secured around the person's forearm. The remaining portion of the band is then wrapped around the person's forearm one or more times. The fastener element 14 on the top surface of the other portion is then engaged to one of the fastener elements 12 on the bottom surface of the band 10 to secure the entire band on the forearm.

[0043] FIG. 6 illustrates the fashion accessory shown in FIGS. 1A-1C being adorned on a person's ankle. The fashion accessory can be worn on the person's ankle in the same manner as described above with respect to FIG. 5.

[0044] FIG. 7 illustrates an exemplary way to use the fashion accessory shown in FIGS. 1A-1C to form a loop. Specifically, the fastener element 14 on the top surface of one end of band 10 is engaged to one of the fastener elements 12 on the bottom surface of the band 10 so that a portion of band 10 forms a loop. The fastener element 14 on the top surface of the other end of band 10 is engaged to one of the fastener elements 12 on the bottom surface of band 10 so that the remaining portion of band 10 is part of the loop.

[0045] FIGS. 8-10 illustrate an exemplary way to form a fashion accessory by connecting two bands, 80 and 82. Each band may be similarly configured with fastener elements as the band 10 shown in FIGS. 1A-1C. Referring to FIG. 8, a fastener element on the top surface of one end of band 80 is engaged to one of the fastener elements on the bottom surface of band 82 and a fastener element on the top surface of one end of band 82 is engaged to one of the fastener elements on the bottom surface of band 80 to connect band 80 to band 82.

[0046] Referring to FIG. 9, band 80 forms a first loop by engaging a fastener element on the top surface of the other end of band 80 to one of the fastener elements on the bottom surface of band 80.

[0047] Referring to FIG. 10, band 82 forms a second loop by engaging a fastener element on the top surface of the other end of band 82 to one of the fastener elements on the bottom surface of band 82.

[0048] One advantage of the fashion accessory shown in FIG. 8 is that it can be used, for example, to wrap around a person's waist where a single band might not be long enough to be used. In some embodiments, the bands 80 and 82 shown in FIGS. 8-10 can each have different decorative elements/embellishments so that the fashion accessory having a combination of different decorative elements/embellishments can be formed.

[0049] One advantage of implementations of the fashion accessory where the magnetic snap fastener elements on the top surface are stronger than the magnetic snap fastener elements on the bottom surface may be a lower cost of production, with the same utility, than a fashion accessory where the magnetic snap fastener elements on the top surface have the same strength as the magnetic snap fastener elements on the bottom surface. Generally, the stronger a magnetic snap fastener element is, the more expensive it will be. In addition, the strength of the hold between two magnetic snap fastener elements when engaged is proportional to the total strength of the two magnetic snap fastener elements. Thus, the strength of the hold between a strong magnetic snap fastener element engaged to a weak magnetic snap fastener element can be the same as the strength of the hold between an intermediate magnetic snap fastener element engaged to an intermediate magnetic snap fastener element. Therefore, for example, a particular implementation can use weaker, less expensive, magnetic snap fastener elements on the bottom surface, and stronger, more expensive, magnetic snap fastener elements on the top surface. Such a fashion accessory can have the same hold strength between the magnetic snap fastener elements on the top surface engaged to the magnetic snap fastener elements on the bottom surface, compared to a fashion accessory where all the magnetic snap fasteners have the same intermediate strength. Because the fashion accessory described herein generally have many more magnetic snap fastener elements on the bottom surface than the top surface, using less expensive, weaker magnetic snap fastener elements on the bottom surface can lower the overall costs of these implementations, even if more expensive, stronger magnetic snap fastener elements are used on the top surface.

[0050] A number of embodiments of the invention have been described. Nevertheless, it will be understood that various modifications may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.

[0051] For example, the size and shape, both relative and actual, of various parts of the fashion accessory can be varied considerably. The order of steps described in connection with the use of the fashion accessory disclosed herein may be modified in a variety of ways as well.

[0052] The fashion accessory can be used to adorn various parts of a person's body including a person's wrist, a person's forearm, a person's upper arm, a person's waist, and a person's ankle. The fashion accessory can also be used to adorn various types of footwear including boots and high heels.

[0053] Other implementations are within the scope of the following claims.

Claims

1. A fashion accessory, comprising: a band having first and second ends, and top and bottom surfaces; the bottom surface of the band having a plurality of fastener elements; and the top surface of the band having a fastener element on the first end and a fastener element on the second end; wherein each fastener element on the bottom surface is capable of engaging to one of the fastener elements on the top surface.

2. The fashion accessory of claim 1, wherein the fastener elements on the bottom surface of the band are spaced such that: one of the fastener elements on the bottom surface of the band is capable of being selectively engaged to the fastener element on the top surface of the band on the first end to form a loop with a portion of the band; and another of the fastener elements on the bottom surface of the band is capable of being selectively engaged to the fastener element on the top surface of the band on the second end to form one or more additional loops with the remaining portion of the band.

3. The fashion accessory of claim 2, wherein two neighboring fastener elements on the bottom surface of the band have an average distance of from about 7.62 mm to about 25.4 mm.

4. The fashion accessory of claim 2, wherein the loops are large enough to encircle a boot, a cloth, or a body part of a person.

5. The fashion accessory of claim 1, wherein the band is a flexible band.

6. The fashion accessory of claim 1, wherein the band is made from leather, a polymer, natural fibers, or a combination thereof.

7. The fashion accessory of claim 1, wherein the fastener elements on the bottom surface are snap fastener elements, and the fastener elements on the top surface are snap fastener elements that are complementary to the snap fastener elements on the bottom surface.

8. The fashion accessory of claim 7, wherein the snap fastener elements on the bottom surface are female snap fastener elements, and the snap fastener elements on the top surface are male snap fastener elements.

9. The fashion accessory of claim 7, wherein each of the snap fastener elements are magnetic snap fastener elements.

10. The fashion accessory of claim 9, wherein the magnetic snap fastener elements on the top surface have a greater strength than the magnetic snap fastener elements on the bottom surface.

11. A fashion accessory, comprising: first and second bands, each band having first and second ends, and top and bottom surfaces; the bottom surface of each band having a plurality of fastener elements; the top surface of each band having a fastener element on each of the first and second ends; wherein one of the fastener elements on the bottom surface of the first band is engaged to the fastener element on the top surface of the first end of the second band to form a longer band.

12. The fashion accessory of claim 11, wherein another fastener element on the bottom surface of the first band is engaged to the fastener element on the top surface of the second end of the second band such that the longer band forms a loop.

13. The fashion accessory of claim 11, wherein the loop is large enough to encircle a person's waist.

14. The fashion accessory of claim 11, wherein the first or second band is a flexible band.

15. The fashion accessory of claim 11, wherein the first or second band is made from leather, a polymer, natural fibers, or a combination thereof.

16. The fashion accessory of claim 11, wherein the fastener elements on the bottom surface of each band are snap fastener elements, and the fastener elements on the top surface of each band are snap fastener elements that are complementary to the snap fastener elements on the bottom surface.

17. The fashion accessory of claim 16, wherein the snap fastener elements on the bottom surface of each band are female snap fastener elements, and the snap fastener elements on the top surface of each band are male snap fastener elements.

18. The fashion accessory of claim 16, wherein each of the snap fastener elements on the first and second bands is a magnetic snap fastener element.

19. A method for adorning an object with a fashion accessory, comprising: providing a fashion accessory, the fashion accessory comprising: a band having first and second ends, and top and bottom surfaces; the bottom surface of the band having a plurality of fastener elements; and the top surface of the band having a fastener element on the first end and a fastener element on the second end; wherein each fastener element on the bottom surface is capable of engaging to one of the fastener elements on the top surface; wrapping a portion of the band around the object, the portion of the band comprising the first end of the band; engaging the fastener element on the top surface of the band on the first end to one of the fastener elements on the bottom surface of the band to secure the portion of the band around the object; wrapping a remaining portion of the band around the object one or more times; and engaging the fastener element on the top surface of the band on the second end to one of the fastener elements on the bottom surface of the band to secure the remaining portion of the band around the object.

20. The method of claim 19, wherein the object is a boot, a cloth, or a body part of a person.