NECKWEAR FOR PETS

Abstract

Pet neckwear can be created to close around a pet's neck or to enclose a standard pet collar, so that the apparel may fit to the specific size required by the pet. When used as a cover for a standard pet collar the neckwear may completely cover the collar underneath and yet still allow for leash attachment since it connects through the leash hook instead of over the top of it. The neckwear may be made of materials that can be wiped cleaned or machine washed and may have additional design elements attached in such a way as they could be detached and exchanged for different design elements to form a new style. It is also easy to attach so that even people with dexterity issues such as arthritis can use it to individualize their pet.

Claims

1-7. (canceled)

8. Pet neckwear, adapted to be worn by itself or over an existing pet collar at a pet owner's discretion, the neckwear comprising: a) a front section with tapered ends with one of the tapered ends being more elongated than the other; b) a back section that forms a sleeve through which the existing pet collar can be slipped and substantially concealed; c) complementary fasteners on each of the tapered ends of the neckwear that expose the leash hook on the existing pet collar when the neckwear is worn over the existing pet collar.

9. The neckwear of claim 8 wherein the front section comprises a plurality of pieces of material sewn together to form an irregular shape.

10. The neckwear of claim 8 wherein the front section comprises an attachment selected from the group consisting of: a) snaps; and b) buttons; and wherein the neckwear comprises at least one material design element that is adapted to be affixed to the front section of the neckwear via the attachment.

11. The neckwear of claim 10 wherein the at least one material design element is selected from a group consisting of: a) bibs; b) jewelry; c) flowers; and d) ties.

12. The neckwear of claim 8 wherein the back section is constructed of a single long piece of material.

13. The neckwear of claim 8 wherein the complimentary fasteners form a means for connecting the neckwear around a pet's neck.

14. The neckwear of claim 13 wherein the means for connecting the neckwear around the pet's neck comprises a material that when attached to itself will remain fastened together.

15. The neckwear of claim 13 wherein the means for connecting the neckwear around the pet's neck comprises fastening tape.

16. The neckwear of claim 13 wherein the means for connecting the neckwear around the pet's neck comprises an elongated strip that can be connected at any interval within its range, thereby allowing the neckwear to be adjusted to any size within the range of the elongated strip.

17. The neckwear of claim 8 wherein the complementary fasteners are adapted to be connectable around a pet's neck without the presence of the existing pet collar.

18. The neckwear of claim 8 wherein the complementary fasteners connect through the leash hook on the existing pet collar when the neckwear is worn as a cover over the existing pet collar that is connected around a pet's neck.

19. The neckwear of claim 18 wherein the complementary fasteners have full functionality when worn over the existing pet collar even if the existing pet collar has a buckle or a quick release clasp.

20. The neckwear of claim 8, wherein the neckwear is adapted to, when worn over the existing pet collar, substantially cover the existing pet collar's inside and outside surfaces, even if the existing pet collar has a buckle or quick release clasp.

21. The neckwear of claim 20, wherein the neckwear is adapted to, when worn over the existing pet collar, not present an appearance of one collar being worn over another.

22. The neckwear of claim 20, wherein the neckwear is adapted to, when worn over the existing pet collar, substantially protect inside and outside surfaces of the existing pet collar from being soiled by the elements or from being soiled by the pet.

23. The neckwear of claim 8 in combination with the existing pet collar, wherein: a) the leash hook is the only place on the existing pet collar where a leash or id tags can be attached without causing the pet collar to malfunction; and b) the leash hook is the only place on the existing pet collar where the leash or id tags can be attached without causing possible harm to the pet.

24. A method of using neckwear having a front section with tapered ends, with one of the tapered ends being more elongated than the other, a back section that forms a sleeve through which the existing pet collar can be slipped and completely concealed, and complementary fasteners on each of the tapered ends of the neckwear that when connected and worn over the existing pet collar still expose a leash hook on the existing pet collar, the method comprising: a) slipping the existing pet collar through the sleeve formed by the front and back sections of the neckwear, leaving the fastener ends of the existing pet collar protruding from the sleeve; b) threading one of the tapered ends of the neckwear through the leash hook on the existing pet collar; c) attaching the existing pet collar around the neck of the pet; d) attaching one tapered end of the neckwear on top of the second more elongated tapered end of the neckwear using the fastener such that the neckwear substantially conceals the existing pet collar underneath except for the leash hook;

25. The method of claim 24, wherein attaching the existing pet collar around the neck of the pet comprises closing a quick release clasp or a buckle on the existing pet collar around the pet's neck.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0016] The drawings and detailed description which follow are intended to be merely illustrative, and are not intended to limit the scope of protection provided by this or any other document.

[0017] FIG. 1 depicts an exemplary design of a front portion of neckwear that could be implemented based on this disclosure.

[0018] FIG. 2 depicts an exemplary design of a front portion of neckwear that could be implemented based on this disclosure.

[0019] FIG. 3 depicts an exemplary design of a front portion of neckwear that could be implemented based on this disclosure.

[0020] FIG. 4 depicts an exemplary back section of neckwear that could be implemented based on this disclosure.

[0021] FIG. 5 depicts an exemplary back section of neckwear that could be implemented based on this disclosure.

[0022] FIG. 6 depicts an example of how some kinds of material can be hemmed before being attached to other portions of neckwear implemented based on this disclosure.

[0023] FIG. 7 depicts the back portion of the neckwear implemented based on this disclosure being attached to that neckwear's front portion when a design with a front and back portion is created.

[0024] FIG. 8 depicts how a design with only a front section can be folded in half and then attached together along the bottom.

[0025] FIG. 9 depicts tapered ends of a front portion being folded back to form end tabs.

[0026] FIG. 10 depicts how a solid sleeve can be created on the backside of neckwear implemented based on this disclosure.

[0027] FIG. 11 depicts a front view of one type of design for the completed neckwear.

[0028] FIG. 12 depicts how a standard pet collar can be slipped through a sleeve portion of neckwear implemented based on this disclosure.

[0029] FIG. 13 depicts how a standard pet collar can be slipped through a sleeve portion of neckwear implemented based on this disclosure.

[0030] FIG. 14 depicts how a standard pet collar can be attached underneath neckwear implemented based on this disclosure, and a portion of the neckwear can be threaded through a leash hook of that collar.

[0031] FIG. 15 depicts how neckwear implemented based on this disclosure can be attached together over a standard pet collar.

[0032] FIG. 16 depicts a front view of one type of neckwear design when it is completely attached without a standard pet collar.

[0033] FIG. 17 depicts how neckwear implemented based on this disclosure could be placed on a dog.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0034] There are numerous ways known for attaching portions of pet apparel and numerous materials to choose from, any of which are compatible with the present description. The diagrams presented along with their descriptions have been provided only by way of illustrative example. Numerous modifications and alternate embodiments of the disclosed technology will occur to those skilled in the art.

[0035] FIGS. 1 and 2 and 3 show examples of three different designs for the front portion of the neckwear before the ends have been folded back to form the attaching end tabs. FIGS. 1 and 2 are front portions that will require a corresponding back portion. FIG. 3 is an example of a front portion that will connect to itself to form a type of sleeve without a back portion being needed. FIGS. 4 and 5 show examples of corresponding back sections for FIGS. 1 and 2 that in a preferred embodiment will be solid sections. In alternative embodiments, these back portions could be fabric strips forming loops as in a belt design, or other such configurations. FIG. 6 shows an example of how some kinds of material will be hemmed before being attached to other portions to prevent certain types of materials from fraying. FIG. 7 shows the back portion of the neckwear being attached to the front portion of the neckwear when a design with a front and back portion is created. FIG. 8 shows how a design with only a front section is folded in half and then attached together along the bottom. FIG. 9 shows the tapered ends of the front portion being folded back to form end tabs. FIG. 10 shows how a solid sleeve (g) in this example is created on the backside of the neckwear. In FIGS. 10 and 11 (h) and (i) indicate where the attaching strips or attaching mechanisms will be added to the tabs. FIG. 11 shows a front view of one type of design for the completed neckwear. FIGS. 12 and 13 show how a standard pet collar can be slipped through the sleeve portion of the neckwear. FIG. 14 shows how the standard pet collar (j) would first be attached underneath the neckwear and (k) shows how the neckwear is threaded through the leash hook on the standard collar so the leash hook remains useable. FIG. 15 shows how the neckwear is attached together over a standard pet collar. FIG. 16 show a front view of one type of neckwear design when it is completely attached without a standard pet collar. FIG. 17 shows how the neckwear could be placed on a dog.

[0036] Features that may be present in some types of neckwear created based on the present disclosure include:

[0037] A front section of material or materials with tapered ends, that may be attached together via various methods and forming an irregular shape that may be longer than it is wider and being referred to as the main body front section.

[0038] The main body front section in some designs may be a combination of different materials sewn or attached together to make a specific design. FIG. 1 is an example of a main body front section with a design that is created by sewing two different types of materials together; a vinyl section (a) and a canvas section (b). Additionally on top of the canvas section you will note additional design elements such as strings, eyelets and additional top stitching have been added. FIG. 2 represents another example of a main body front section design that uses only one type of fabric but has an additional material design element attached (e) to form a fabric flower. In some styles the design elements may be removable from the front section in order to replace them with other design elements to form a new style. For example, the flower on the neckwear in FIG. 2 could be attached to the neckwear via a snap such that it could be unsnapped and replaced with a different color flower. FIG. 3 shows another type of configuration for a front section that will not require a back section. The neckwear created based on the current disclosure may have an additional tapered length on each side (c) and (d) that will be used to make the attaching mechanism for the neckwear, hereinafter referred to as the end tabs. In designs created based on the present disclosure one end tab (c) tapers down to a smaller width, and then tapers back out to the same width at which the taper first began, similar to overlapping triangles placed head to head. The other end tab (d) may also taper down to a smaller width (e.g., tapering down to a width of between ½ inch to 1½ inches) and then continue at this reduced width to form an elongated rectangular strip of varying lengths (e.g., between 4 and 10 inches), before again tapering back out to the same width at which the taper first began. Preferably, all such tapering will occur over an approximately 1 inch distance from the end of the elongated rectangular strip, though different approaches are also possible (including approaches which remove the tapering all together and simply transition from the width of the elongated strip to the width of the smaller width of the tab). You will note in FIG. 2 that although the front body main section design is different from the front main body section designs of FIG. 1 and FIG. 3, it still includes the same type of end tabs (c) and (d), though other types of end tabs (e.g., rectangular end tabs such as shown in FIG. 14) are also possible.

[0039] There are a variety of different ways a front section may be configured to form the main body of the neckwear. FIGS. 1, 2 and 3 are only provided as examples of numerous options.

[0040] A back section or sections of material or materials (if required), attached together and which may in some designs form the same shape and size as the main body of the front section without the tapered ends, herein referred to as the main body back section.

[0041] FIG. 4 depicts the corresponding back section for FIG. 1, and FIG. 5 represents the corresponding back section for FIG. 2. The main body back section depicted in FIG. 4 is made of two different materials sewn together, vinyl (a) and canvas (b) just as its corresponding main body front section FIG. 1 is. Other corresponding back sections may or may not resemble their corresponding front section.

[0042] If the material used in the neckwear design for the main body sections frays at its ends when cut, such as cotton or polyester or canvas, then the fray able ends in some designs may have ¼″ turned over on each side such that a hem is formed. FIG. 6 shows an example of the top canvas part of the main body front section from FIG. 4 being hemmed (f) across the top since this section is made from canvas which will fray at the edges when cut.

[0043] For this design example, the neckwear is assembled by first laying the main body front section face down and placing the wrong side of the main body back section on top as depicted in FIG. 7. FIG. 8 shows an example of how a main body front section could be connected if it were designed without a corresponding main body back section. For either design, the end tabs on each side of the main body front section are then folded exactly in half as depicted in FIG. 9, with the folded half on top such that the tapered end tabs are completely aligned over each other. One method for attaching a front section to a back section when a back section is required is to sew around the end tab on one side, across the bottom of the neckwear, around the end tab of the second side, then across the top, thus forming the neckwear as depicted in FIG. 10. When assembled the main body section or sections are only attached to each other along the top and/or bottom of the main body section and not across the longitudinal sides, such that a type of sleeve (g) is created on the backside of the neckwear. Fastening tape, a magnetic strip or some kind of closing mechanism is attached on the end tabs; first on the back side of the shorter tab as depicted in FIG. 10 (h) and secondly on the top side of the elongated rectangular strip end as depicted in FIG. 11 (i), though attachment of a closing mechanism on the front of the shorter tab, the bottom of the rectangular strip, or on both sides of both the tab and the rectangular strip are also possible. As shown in FIG. 11, where a closing mechanism such as fastening tape or a magnetic strip is used, it will preferably be attached along the entire horizontal length (which will preferably between 2 and 5 inches) of the longer end tab.

[0044] The material disclosed herein is intended to be illustrative and not limiting. Examples of other variations on the disclosed technology might be a back section that is a series of loops through which a standard pet collar can be inserted rather than a solid sleeve, in the same manner as a belt is inserted on a pair of slacks. Or the back section may not resemble the front section at all, unlike the above examples. Or there may not be a back section at all as the front section would simply connect to itself to form a type of sleeve. Or, the fastening mechanism could be buckles or other structures, though fastening tape or magnetic strips are presently the preferred type of fastening. Or the steps required to assemble the neckwear may differ greatly depending on the requirements of the specific design being created. There are many ways to attach the sections together and there are numerous types of materials that can be used to construct such apparel, and there are an infinite number of designs that may be created based on this technology.

[0045] When this example of neckwear is used as a type of collar cover, the neckwear is attached to a standard pet collar by simply slipping the pet collar through the sleeve that is formed by connecting the front section to itself or to a corresponding back section. As depicted in FIGS. 12 and 13. The pet collar is then fastened on the pet. For more detail to be shown, FIG. 14 shows the pet collar being fastened without the pet. The pet collar itself is first connected (j) (clasp type connector shown). The end tabs of the neckwear are then attached over the collar buckle or clasp by sliding the elongated rectangular strip of the one end tab through the leash hook on the collar k), and then attaching the short tapered end tab on top (l) of the elongated rectangular end tab via the connecting mechanism, at any position along the tab that is preferred by the owner. FIG. 15 shows a back view of the neckwear fully connected with the leash hook exposed. FIG. 16 shows the front view. When this neckwear is used by itself as fashionwear without a collar underneath, or when it is positioned entirely on top of a standard collar, it is simply placed around the pet's neck and attached by placing the short tapered end on top of the elongated rectangular tab at any position preferred by the owner, thus allowing the closing mechanism to connect and hold it closed. FIG. 17 shows the neckwear on a dog.

[0046] For owners that have difficulty manipulating hooks or claps or snaps due to arthritis or other issues that may limit their dexterity this neckwear is very easy to connect. It allows owners such as these to easily change out their pet's appearance by simply fastening the neckwear on top of their pet's standard collar.

[0047] Although the present neckwear has been described in some detail by way of illustration and example for purpose of clarity of understanding, it is understood that certain changes and modifications may be made within the spirit of the invention.