US20120077416A1

US20120077416A1 - Anti-Twisting Fashion Jewelry Bra Straps and Methods Of Manufacturing the Same

Info

Publication number: US20120077416A1
Application number: US12/870,754
Authority: US
Inventors: Jing Xu
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 2010-09-27
Filing date: 2010-09-27
Publication date: 2012-03-29

Abstract

Anti-Twisting Fashion Jewelry Bra Straps, available either as a pair of over-the-shoulder straps or as a single strap worn halter-style over the neck, substitute for conventional, undergarment quality bra straps. These high-end fashion jewelry bra straps provide support for women's breasts when hooked onto the loops of strapless bras worn with clothing that exposes women's shoulders, while adding a touch of elegance to the wearer's outfit. Anti-twisting feature ensures that these straps will lie flat against women's shoulders without twisting or sliding for greater freedom of movement while making sure the decorative side of the strap face outside. Three design components achieve this feature: anti-twisting bow-tie anchor pieces; flat metal ornament settings; fine metal loops [one at each end of the settings] that connect the settings and bow-ties. Flexible and elegant extender chains with lobster clasps at the end of the straps allow women to adjust strap length.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

Not Applicable

STATEMENT REGARDING FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH OR DEVELOPMENT

Not Applicable

REFERENCE TO SEQUENCE LISTING, A TABLE, OR A COMPUTER PROGRAM LISTING COMPACT DISC APPENDIX

Not Applicable

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Women's clothing cut to expose the shoulders will not conceal bra straps. Women still need to wear bras with this clothing to support, contour, and properly clothe their breasts. Either the flagrant exposure of conventional, undergarment quality bra straps or opting to go braless are considered vulgar. Strapless bras may be worn tastefully in place of bras having conventional straps, but do not provide the added support of bra straps. Detachable, decorative bra straps address these concerns: they are designed to hook onto the loops of strapless bras, to provide support, and to be aesthetically pleasing, thus adding a fashionable touch to women's outfits. Currently, a limited range of detachable bra straps is available on the market, including: beaded bra straps, interlinked metal chains, interlinked chains with charms, and clear plastic straps with or without decoration. Elastic elements in these straps allows for size adjustment.
The limitations of current products are: glass beads may break and hurt skin; elastic thread used to connect beads maybe stretched open and then close which will pinch skin during use; elastic thread maybe permanently stretched long so the bra straps will fall off shoulder; clear plastic bra straps may not be clear after being used for a while; some bra straps may twist and show not so attractive side of the straps. Above all these bra straps don't have an upscale look. They do not attain the aesthetic quality of high-end fashion jewelry/fine jewelry, and are generally suited for use with casual wear. Anti-twisting fashion jewelry bra straps made using traditional fashion jewelry and fine jewelry process address these limitations: the appearance is like top-quality fine jewelry so that women can wear them with formal night gowns or any beautiful clothes to achieve very flattering visual effect while keeping their strapless bras in place; anti-twisting components ensure that the straps lie flat and securely on women's shoulders providing good comfort; elegant metal extender chains allow size adjustment; nickel-free metal are used to avoid skin allergy; the well-polished and well-made metal chains are strong, pinch-free and durable. Women can choose from halter-style, one piece strap, or over-the-shoulder two piece straps.

REFERENCES CITED

U.S. Patent Documents


6,086,451	July 2000	Fernandes
D519261	April 2006	Reis
7,396,273	July 2008	Styles-Gavria et al.
7,513,816	April 2009	McCullough et al.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Anti-Twisting fashion jewelry bra straps, their design and use are described. These straps include hooks that allow users to attach the straps to loops in strapless bras. Consumers choose from two styles of straps: two straps worn over the shoulder or one strap worn halter-style, attached to the front loops of strapless bras and fastened at the back of the neck. Specification for elegance of make [materials and ornamentation must maintain the aesthetic value of fashion jewelry/fine jewelry] results in straps that add a touch of class to women's outfits—eye-catching, tasteful accessories. These straps further provide enhanced comfort, support, and freedom of movement when worn with strapless bras. Anti-Twisting features include: two bow-tie shaped pieces located at ⅓ and ⅔ of the length of the decorated main strap; ornamental settings with smooth flat backs; fine metal rings [one at each end of the settings] linking the settings and the bow-tie shaped pieces. After the main decorative chains are metal extender chains allowing for size adjustment. They are strong but delicate in appearance and flexible by design. One strong metal hook is attached at one end of the main decorative strap which will hook onto front loop of a strapless bra; another hook is attached to the end of the metal extender chain which will hook onto the back loop of a strapless bras.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWING

The three drawings illustrate how fashion jewelry bra straps can be used. The drawings are not to scale.

FIG. 1 illustrates the frontal view of a pair strapless bra with a pair of fashion jewelry bra straps.

FIG. 2 illustrates the rear view of a pair strapless bra with a pair of fashion jewelry bra straps. The extender chains are shown in FIG. 2.

FIG. 3 illustrates the frontal view of a pair strapless bra with a piece of halter style fashion jewelry bra strap. The extender chain is shown in FIG. 3.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

The description of the following invention demonstrated by the accompanying drawings should not be construed as limiting the invention to the examples shown and described since those skilled in art may make various small modifications. The Anti-Twisting Fashion Jewelry Bra Straps invention includes any combination or sub-combination of the elements disclosed herein. The bra straps may be constructed from a variety of materials provided: that the finished product shall attain the aesthetic value of high-end fashion jewelry [at minimum]; that the anti-twisting devices will be included in the finished product to the specifications described for the first-line products in the claims below; that the extender chains, lobster clasps and bra hooks below will be included in the finished product; the straps maintain sufficient tensile strength to support breast weight and flexibility. Materials of which Anti-Twisting Fashion Jewelry Bra Straps may be constructed include: fine metals, leather, fabric/thread, and plastic [provided that the visual impression is that of high fashion jewelry], either with decorations on or woven into the strap itself or with artistic beads [ceramic, jade and other stones, precious jewels, pearls, rhinestones and other semi-precious jewels, glass, etc] either woven into the straps [if leather or fabric/thread] or laid in the settings below. Feathers, charms and other artistic materials currently available or available in the future may be incorporated by skilled artisans so long as the overall aesthetic appeal of the finished product equals the level of high-end fashion jewelry and couture. The arrangement of all the decorative and functional parts of the bra straps may have many different forms.
The manufacturing process of the first-line Anti-Twisting Fashion Jewelry Bra Straps in the claims below include: select nickel-free metals to make the straps in order to avoid skin allergy; develop jewelry mold basing on 3-D computer drawings; mass produce ornamental metal settings (including anti-twisting bow-tie shaped metal pieces) using the mold; solder metal rings to each ornamental metal settings and connect the rings perpendicularly to make a chain; attach a strong but elegant metal extender chain at one end of the main decorative chain; attach a lobster claw clasp at the end of the extender chain so that users can hook the clasp to any position of the extender chain to adjust size; attach strong metal hook to one end of the main decorative chain and another hook to the end of the extender chain; polish the whole chain and apply high-end gold or silver electroplating procedure to the chain to make it highly decorative; permanently set decorative rhinestones/semi-precious stones into each ornamental metal settings which require such stones.
Two styles of Fashion Jewelry Anti-Twisting Bra Straps are available for consumers in our first line of products: two piece, over the shoulder detachable bra straps, and one piece, halter style bra strap. Modifications in length of the extender chains of two-piece, over the shoulder style bra straps will provide for a third manner of wearing the straps in a criss-crossed way at the back before attaching the hooks to the back loops of strapless bras.
FIG. 1 illustrates the frontal view of a pair of strapless bra 8 with a pair of fashion jewelry bra straps 9A and 9B attached. FIG. 1 illustrates the image of our first line of products. Future lines of products may take different forms. As shown in FIG. 1, the fashion jewelry bra straps 9A and 9B are identical. The two pieces of fashion jewelry bra straps can be different depending on the design. Since the two pieces of the bra straps 9A and 9B are identical the following description only describes one piece's manufacturing method and connection method to the strapless bra 8. The strapless bra 8 has two front loops 7. The tasteful, strong, flat hook 6 goes through loop 7 to connect fashion jewelry bra strap 9A to the strapless bra 8. The bra strap 9A shown in FIG. 1 is part of the main decorative chain of a piece of fashion jewelry bra straps. Settings with ornamental parts 1 & 2 with flat and smooth back are connected by the ring 3 at the bottom of 1 and the ring 4 at the top of 2, with the rings 3 and 4 looped through each other. Each ring 3 or 4 is soldered to its ornamented metal setting part 1 or 2. This construction is repeated so that each metal ornamented setting 3 or 4 is connected to the next via the bottom ring 3 of the first and the top ring 4 of the second, and so on. The bow tie anti-twisting devices 5 with flat and smooth back are connected in the main strap with this same construction. FIG. 1 shows ring 4's side view. Wire used to make each ring 3 and 4 has 0.9 mm gauge to be strong enough to carry weight while retaining a delicate appearance. Each of two anti-twisting metal part 5 has a shape of a small bow tie in this drawing while in reality it can take many shapes with enough width approximately 1.2 cm to prevent bra straps from twisting. This anti-twisting metal part 5 is placed at ⅓ position of the total length of the main chains 9A and 9B. The main decorative chains 9A and 9B are 13½ inch long.
FIG. 2 illustrates the rear view of a pair of strapless bra 8 with a pair of fashion jewelry bra straps 9A and 9B attached. FIG. 2 shows the rest of the main chains 9A and 9B of a pair of fashion jewelry bra straps. The strapless bra 8 has two back loops 7. The hook 6 goes through loop 7 to connect fashion jewelry bra strap 9A and the extender 10A to the strapless bra 8. The anti-twisting metal part 5 is placed ⅓ position of the total length of the main chains 9A and 9B. Since the two pieces of the bra straps Strapless bra 9A and 9B are identical the following description only describes one piece's manufacturing method and connection method to the strapless bra 8. The 7.5-inch long extender chain 10A composed of strong interlocking precious metal loops is affixed to the non-hooked end of the main strap, ending in the hook 6 that will attach to the rear straps of the strapless bra. Lobster claw clasp 11 is attached to the end of the extender chain 10A. Users can attach the lobster claws clasp 11 to any ring 12 of the extender chain 10A so that they can adjust the total length of the bra straps to their sizes.
FIG. 3 illustrates the frontal view of a pair of strapless bra 8 with a piece of halter style fashion jewelry bra strap attached. This halter style fashion jewelry bra straps is connected to the strapless bra 8 by attaching two hooks 6 to the two frontal loops 7 of the strapless bra 8. The main chains of bra strap 13A and 14B [together 27-inch long] are connected by the extender chain 14 [8-inch long] in the middle. The extender chain 14 rests at the back of the neck. The lobster claws clasp 11 is attached to one end of the extender chain 14. Users can attach the lobster claws clasp 11 to any ring 12 of the extender chain 14 to adjust length. The construction method is the same as the one described in FIG. 1.

Claims

1. Anti-twisting fashion jewelry bra straps having the aesthetic value of high-end fashion jewelry [at minimum] or fine jewelry which include two-piece over the shoulder detachable bra straps and one piece halter style bra strap in our first line of products, comprising: two 13-inch main decorative strap including fine metal settings with rhinestones, metal rings, anti-twisting metal bow ties and strong metal hooks and two 7-inch elegant extender chains with lobster clasps for two piece bra straps or a 27-inch main decorative strap including the same contents as two piece bra straps and a 8-inch elegant extender chain with lobster clasp at the center of main strap for halter style bra strap, both of which have sufficient tensile strength to support breast weight and flexibility to accommodate a wearer's movement.

2. The metal lobster clasp at the end of each metal extender of the bra straps of claim 1 can be clipped to an appropriate location of the extender chain for users of different height and bra sizes to customize the length of each bra strap.

3. The two piece bra straps in claim 1 can be worn criss-crossed at the back before attaching the hooks to the back loops of strapless bras.

4. A method of manufacturing anti-twisting fashion jewelry bra straps, comprising:

manufacturing decorative settings and bow-tie-shape metal pieces as anti-twisting devices employing fine jewelry mode-making process, all of which are smooth and flat on the back [the part that touches the wearer's skin] to enhance comfort and to allow the strap to rest flat on the wearer's shoulders;

soldering two small metal rings [made of wire with gauge of at least 0.9 mm to be strong enough to carry weight] to each setting, bow-tie-shape anti-twisting device in order to make chains which provide sufficient tensile strength to support women's breast weight [of any cup size] while retaining a delicate appearance;

looping the ring at the bottom of one setting [or bow-tie-shape anti-twisting device] through the ring at the top of the next setting during soldering process to connect pieces to allow for flexibility of the entire strap and to allow the strap to remain comfortably secure on the wearer's shoulders as she moves;

placing an anti-twisting bow-tie-shape metal piece at ⅓ and ⅔ of the length of the main decorative chain to prevent twisting;

connecting an extender chain [supposedly to be worn on the back of a wearer] composed of strong interlinked fine metal loops to the end of main decorative strap with lobster clasp at the end of extender to adjust the length of the extender chain;

affixing a tasteful, strong, flat hook to the metal loop on one end of the main decorative strap and another hook to the end of the extender chain for attachment of the strap to front and back loops of strapless bra.

5. A one-piece halter style bra strap can be made using the same method in claim 4.

6. A method of manufacturing anti-twisting fashion jewelry bra straps comprises of using only two rings not three or more to connect ornamental settings and anti-twisting anchors to further prevent twisting.