Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
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Protector for the collars and cuffs of shirts, blouses and
the like
This invention relates to protectors for the collars
and cufs of shirts, blouses and the like.
The idea of protecting the collar of a shirt against
dirt and wear is already well known. For example, protec-
S tors o~ this kind are disclosed in Canadian Patent 499,607
issued on February 2, 1954 to Powers, et. al.; U S. Patent
2,182,582 issu~d on December 5, 1939 to Cohen; U.SO Patent
3tO22,514 issued on February ~7, 1962 to Kaiser; and U.S.
Patent 4~008,494 issued on February 22, 1977 to Hicks.
The purpose of such pro~ectors is either to prolong
the period of time over which the garment can be worn
without the requirement ~or washing, or t~o avoid a per-
manent grubby ring being formed around th~ inside of the
collar, or to avoid fraying of the fabric of the collar.
Although the idea of providing collar protectors has
been known for a long time, they are rarely used nowadays.
This is partly due to the fact that known protectors tend
to be expensive, unsightly or uncomfortable and partly due
to the fact that shirts are usually washed more frequently
~0 than was the case in the past and, moreover, detergents
have improved. However, there is still a need to prevent
the ~abric from developing a permanent g~ubby appearance
and to prevent fraying of the fabric. This is particularly
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true of shirts or blouses made of expensive and delicate
materials, such as silk.
It is accordingly an object of the present invention
to provide a protector for the collars and/or cuf~s of
shirts and blouses which overcomes these disadvantages.
According to the invention there is provided a pro-
tector for a collar or cuff of a shirt, blouse or the
like~ which comprises: a layer of a non-woven textile
material shaped to rorrespond to an area of fabric of
said collar or cuff subject to contact with the wearer's
skin; and a layer of a peelable adhesive Qn a surface
of said non-woven material to permit the protector to be
removably attached to said area; said layer of non-woven
material and said layer of adhesive being sufficiently
thin and transparent that the colour and any distinctive
pattern of said fabric is at least partially visible
through the protector when adhered to said area.
The use of a non woven material ~or the protector
has proved advantageous for a number of reasons. Such
materials have a fairly open structure and thus are quite
moisture absorbent, but on the other hand they can be made
quite durable and wear-resistant. Such materials are also
usually quite inexpensive and, when made of synthetic
material~ are usually non-allergenic and compatible with
the skin, i.e. they tend not to cause itching or scratch-
ing of the skin. However, a main advantage is that, by
using colourless synthetic fibres to form such material,
a fairly transparent layer can be produced which, when
contacted with a abric, tends to become "invisible",
i.e~ the colour and pattern of the underlying fabric is
visible through the non-woven layer and the protector
is consequently not visible, or at least not immediately
noticeable, when in position on a collar or cuff.
Since an adhesive is used to secure the non-woven
material to the collar or cuff, the adhesive itself should
be transparent or translucent when present as a thin layer.
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The protector of the invention is comfortable to use
because it is soft to the touch and moisture-absorbent~
does not look unsightly because it blends in with the
underlying fabric and is fairly inexpensive, thus making
throw-away use possible. The protector, meanwhile, is
sufficiently durable to prevent the underlying fabric
from becoming soiled and subject to wearO
The preferred non-woven fabric for use in the pre-
sent invention is made from colourless polyester fibres.
The fibres should be thick enough to make the fabric dur-
able, but thin enough to make the fabric transparent or
translucent.
Particularly preferred materials are spun bonded 100%
polyesters. These are made by thermally bonding randomly
arranged continuous polyester filaments at their junc-
tions. Such materials have high tensile strength and tear
strength, non-raveling edges and good dimensional stability
and transparency (or translucency). Moreover, the mater-
ials contain no resins or sizings which could irritate the
skin. The materials are soft, comfortable when worn next
to the skin and have great porosity, particularly when the
filaments are crimped prior to being bonded. An example
of such a material is the one sold by the Dupont company
under the trade mark REEMAY 2016 and having a weight of
about 1.35 oz/yd and a thickness of about 9 mils, but
other similar materials are equally suitable.
A preferred adhesive is a pressure-sensitive, col-
ourless ~water-white), synthetic rubber adhesive. The
adhesive layer is preferably porous, e.g. by making the
layer discontinuous.
The adhesive layer is preferably protected prior to
use of the protector by covering it with a release paper,
e.g. a layer of waxed paper or paper treated with a sili-
cone product~ The release paper can then be peeled off
immediately before the protector is applied to the shirt
or blouse collar or cuff.
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In practice, it has proved difficult to coat adhesive
onto a non-woven fabric. This problem can be solved by
first coating the release paper with the adhesive and then
contacting the exposed adhesive layer with the non-woven
material. When the release paper is peeled oEf, the adhe-
sive layer remains on the non-woven fabric because of the
greater adhesion between the adhesive and the non-woven
fabric than between the adhesive and the release paper.
If the adhesive is applied onto the release paper in the
form of a mixture with a solvent, the solvent should be
allowed to dry before the non-woven fabric is applied.
The shape of the protector should be made to cor-
respond to the area of collar or cuff to be protected.
Moreover, it is a particularly preferred feature of the
invention that the shape of the protector b~ made such
that part of the protector overlaps the top edge of the
collar or the outer edge of the cuff. These edges are
; particularly subject to wear, but a protector overlapping
the~e edges is visible when the shirt or blouse is being
worn. Howe~er, since the pro~ector of the invention tends
to blend in with the underlying fabric, the protected edges
are consequently not particularly noticeable.
Preferred emboiments o the invention are described in
the following with reference to the accompanying drawings,
in which:
Fig. 1 is a plan view of a protector according to the
invention suitable for a collar;
Fig~ 2 is a cross-section of the protector of Fig. 1
taken on the line II-II;
FigO 3 is a perspective view of a shirt collar showing
the protector in place;
Fig. 4 is a cross-section of the collar of Fig. 3
taken on the line IV-IV;
Fig. 5 is a view similar to Fig. 1 of a protector
suitable for a cuff; and
Fig. 6 is a side elevation oE a cuf~ showing the
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protector in place.
~ protector 10 suitable for a collar is shown in Figs.
1 and 2. The protector consists of a layer 11 of non-
woven fabric attached by means o an adhesive layer 12
to a slightly larger backing or release paper 130
The non-woven fabric and layer 11 and the adhesive
layer 12 are thin and transparent (or translucent) in
the manner explained above. The release paper 13 serves
to protect the adhesive layer 12 until the protector is
put in use, whereupon the release paper is peeled off so
that the non-woven fabric layer 11 can be adhered to a
shirt coLlar 14, as shown in Fig. 3.
Fig. 3 shows that the non-wo~en fabric layer 11 is
adhered to the collar in such a manner that its lower edge
15 lies close to the bottom of the inner surface of the
collar, and its upper edge 16 lies on the outer surface of
the collar near the top. Thus a part 17 of the protector
extends around the upper edge 18 of the collar, as best
shown in Fig. 4. Thus the upper edge of the collar is
protected from dirt and wear just like the inner surface
of the collar.
Bec~use the protector (layers 11 and 12~ are trans-
parent or translucent, the part of the protector which
is visible in use (part 173 is not especially noticeable
because the colour and pattern of the collar show through
the protector to some extent.
Fig. 5 shows a similar protector 20 whicb is of a shape
and size suitable for use as a cuff protector. The protec-
tor 20 consists of the three layers just like the protector
10, i.e., a non-woven fabric layer 21, an adhesive layer
(not shown) and a release paper 23 of slightly larger size.
Fig. 6 shows a protector 20 attached to a cuff 24 of
a shirt or blouse, after removal of the release paper 23.
The protector covers virtually the entire inner surface
of the cuff 24 to the position shown by broken line. The
front edge 26 of the protector is attached to the outer
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surface of the cuff adjacent to the front edge, so that
a part 27 of the protector extends around the said ~ront
edge. Thus both the inner surface and the front edge of
the cu~f are protected from dirt and wearO
The protectors 10 and 20 may be worn for a few hours
or, more normally a day, and may the~n be peeled off the
shirt or blouse and discardedO Anot:her similar protector
can then be attached to the collar or cuff, if desired,
to provide the shirt or blouse with similar protection.
Since the protectors can be manufactured inexpen-
sively, this "throw-away" use is not unduly costly.
Further, since the protectors are effective while also
being comfortable and not unduly noticeable, their use
is acceptable.
The non-woven abric layer should normally be made
strong enough to resist separation of the fibres when
the layer is peeled off the release paper or the fabric.
It will be apparent to persons skilled in the art that
various modifications and alterations of the preferred
embodi~ents described above are possible. All such ~odi-
fications and al~erations form part of this invention
to ~he extent that they fall within the scope of the
following claims.
