Abstract:
A unique scarf formed of multiple serrated strips of material sewn together in a lengthwise fashion so as to provide exceptional warmth to the wearer. The strips of material are assembled in different combinations of colors and patterns, such as the favorite colors of a team, thus providing a rallying or cheering device that is waved about by the wearer during a game.

Description:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
       [0001]    The present invention relates generally to wearing apparel, and more particularly to a scarf which is designed to be worn around the neck. The scarf of the present invention also relates to devices which may be waved or shaken to rally, encourage, and show support for a team or individual involved in a competition. 
       BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
       [0002]    Competition between teams or individuals in, for example, sporting events is an integral part of life throughout the world. Teams (and to a lesser extent, individuals) involved in competition inevitably have their followers or “fans” who love to cheer and encourage the participants on to victory. In the United States of America, colleges, high schools, and middle schools all have teams playing such competitive sports as football, basketball, hockey, and soccer. Professional and semi-professional sports teams are found in cities large and small. Each of these teams has a fan base associated with it and, as is well known, the fans love to visibly and audibly encourage the team during competition. 
         [0003]    Wearing apparel which shows support for a particular team or individual is ubiquitous in today&#39;s society. Tee-shirts, sweatshirts, sweat pants, hats, caps, coats, and jackets abound. Mufflers and scarves with team emblems and colors are available. Many game venues are also ripe for spotting unusual wearing apparel such as mascot heads or multi-colored hairpieces. Dressing to support the team makes game attendance more fun. 
         [0004]    In addition to wearing supporting apparel, fans of a particular team often employ gadgets or devices to cheer or rally their team. Typical of these devices are colorful pom-poms designed to be shaken, rally sticks designed to be waved or beaten together, hand attachments designed to be held aloft (e.g. a hugely oversized foam numeral “1”), and letters or signs held aloft and designed to encourage by sending a “message” to the team (e.g. “DEE” “FENCE”). Employing such gadgets likewise makes game attendance more fun. 
         [0005]    Many of the team sporting events which attract large numbers of spectators take place during cold weather months. It is thus common for many fans to utilize the types of warm wearing apparel referred to earlier: sweatshirts, sweat pants, coats, jackets, hats, mufflers, and scarves. Of these items of apparel, only a scarf is capable of dually functioning as a cheering/rallying gadget that can be safely and effectively waved or shaken to show support for the wearer&#39;s team. There is thus a need for a rally scarf which provides warmth to the wearer and which can also be used to show support for the team. 
       DESCRIPTION OF THE RELATED PRIOR ART 
       [0006]    A pom-pom pocket scarf is disclosed in United States Patent Application Publication No. 2005/0125878 A1. As described in this document, a scarf made of tightly knit or woven material has hand pockets formed at each end. A section of multiple-strip pom-poms is attached to each hand pocket. The wearer inserts his or her hands into the pockets and waves the pom-poms without necessarily removing the scarf from around the neck. This pom-pom scarf is not visually effective for cheering in large stadiums due to the limited pom-pom size. Moreover, this scarf does not provide an exceptional degree of warmth to the wearer&#39;s neck, as does the scarf of the present invention. 
         [0007]    U.S. Pat. No. 5,903,924 discloses a scarf which has an inflatable ball at one or both ends. When inflated, the ball-scarf is designed to be swung around overhead in order to cheer the wearer&#39;s favorite team. Such swinging ball, however, could potentially be dangerous to nearby fans. This scarf also does not provide an exceptional degree of warmth to the wearer&#39;s neck, as does the scarf of the present invention. 
         [0008]    U.S. Pat. No. 4,037,340 discloses a scarf which is worn around the neck in the usual manner, and which has hand pockets at either end so that the wearer can hold the scarf aloft to display messages printed thereon and thus cheer his or her favorite team. This scarf, however, lacks any pom-pom effects and does not provide an exceptional degree of warmth to the wearer&#39;s neck, as does the scarf of the present invention. 
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
       [0009]    The present invention thus meets the need of a rally scarf which provides warmth to the wearer and which can also be used to show support for a team. The scarf of the present invention is formed of multiple serrated strips of material sewn together in a lengthwise fashion so as to provide exceptional warmth to the wearer. The strips of material are assembled in different combinations of colors and patterns, such as the favorite colors of a team, thus providing a rallying or cheering device that is waved about by the wearer during a game. The scarf achieves a pom-pom effect whenever shaken or waved in any manner. 
         [0010]    The present invention also includes the method of preparing the strips of material used in making the team rally scarf and the method of assembling them to form the scarf. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0011]    The invention is herein described, by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings. With specific reference not to the drawings in detail, it is stressed that the particulars shown are by way of example and for purposes of illustrative discussion of the preferred embodiments of the present invention only, and are presented in the cause of providing what is believed to be the most useful and readily understood description of the principles and conceptual aspects of the invention. In this regard, no attempt is made to show structural details of the invention in more detail than is necessary for fundamental understanding of the invention, the description taken with the drawings making apparent to those skilled in the art how the invention may be embodied in practice. 
           [0012]    In the drawings: 
           [0013]      FIG. 1  is a front perspective view of the inventive team rally scarf. 
           [0014]      FIG. 2  is a front perspective view of the inventive team rally scarf having a pennant attached to one end thereof. 
           [0015]      FIG. 3  is a partially cut-away top view of a single strip of serrated material used in forming the team rally scarf. 
           [0016]      FIG. 4  is a side view of a stacked plurality of the strips shown in  FIG. 3 . 
           [0017]      FIG. 5  is a partially cut-away top view of an alternative version of a single strip of serrated material used in forming the team rally scarf. 
           [0018]      FIG. 6  is a partially cut-away top view of another alternative version of a single strip of serrated material used in forming the team rally scarf. 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
       [0019]    A first exemplary embodiment of the team rally scarf of the present invention is shown in  FIG. 1 . As seen therein, the team rally scarf  10  comprises a body of long, indeterminate length which is completely flexible and supple, able to be draped into any shape whatsoever. A scarf is generally worn around the neck of an individual, the number of loops around the neck depending upon the outside temperature. The length of scarf  10  is sufficient to allow many loops around a wearer&#39;s neck, with an optimum length being about five (5) feet. The scarf can, of course, be made in any length desired. 
         [0020]    As seen in  FIG. 1 , the entire body of scarf  10  comprises a plurality of individually protruding pieces of material, the number of protruding pieces being so great that they overlap one another along the entire length, width, and depth of the scarf  10 . The manner in which these individually protruding pieces of material are made will be discussed below. As will also be discussed further below, these plural individually protruding pieces of material create spaces for trapping air therebetween, a feature which gives the scarf  10  an exceptional ability to trap and hold heat, making it much warmer than traditional scarves of tightly knit or woven material. 
         [0021]    The plurality of individually protruding pieces of material are formed in colors that match the colors of the wearer&#39;s favorite team. As explained further below, various color patterns, combinations, and effects are possible. 
         [0022]      FIG. 2  shows a second exemplary embodiment of the team rally scarf of the present invention. In this second embodiment, team rally scarf  10  is identical to the scarf of the first embodiment, but with an advertising or identification pennant  12  attached to one end thereof. Such pennant  12  can be used, for example, to identify the manufacturer of scarf  10  and to provide address/telephone number/internet address information for others to use. The pennant  12  can be attached to scarf  10  in such manner that it is easily detached, for example, by means of a perforation. 
         [0023]      FIGS. 3 and 4  illustrate how the team rally scarf  10  is made by showing in detail the essential elements of the scarf.  FIG. 3  shows a single serrated strip of material  14 . The word “serrated” as used herein is defined as having the edges of the strip  14  cut repeatedly along the length, but not all the way across, so as to leave a longitudinal center portion intact—as shown in  FIG. 3 . The serrated strip, whose length is the same as the desired length of the finished scarf  10 , thus becomes a strip of material with a plurality of individually protruding pieces of material which are extremely supple and able to flap around with the slightest movement of the strip  14 . The longitudinally extending uncut center portion is reserved for threads which sew multiple strips  14  together. 
         [0024]    As indicated above, the length of the serrated strip  14  is variable but can be, for example, about five (5) feet. The width of the strip  14  is preferably between three (3) and six (6) inches. These sizes are merely preferred, and all different sizes are encompassed by the instant disclosure. These sizes can be varied intentionally in order to obtain scarfs having different weights. The individual cuts along the edges of strip  14  may be evenly or unevenly spaced in order to achieve different aesthetic effects. When evenly spaced, as shown in  FIG. 3 , the individual cuts are preferably separated by about one-half inch. 
         [0025]    A variety of cutting techniques and mechanisms can be used to make the cuts along the edges of serrated strip  14 . Such techniques and mechanisms include, but are not limited to, razor blades, scissors, multi-blade mechanical cutters, automated single- and multi-blade cutters, and laser cutters. 
         [0026]    As seen in  FIG. 4 , a plurality of serrated strips  14 A,  14   b ,  14   c , and  14   d  are assembled one on top of another to form assembly  15 , and the plurality of strips are then sewn together through the longitudinally extending uncut center portions thereof. Four serrated strips are illustratively shown in  FIG. 4 , but the number of strips can vary depending upon the desired thickness of the scarf. It has been found that four to six assembled strips are ideal for rally scarves to be used in the manner described herein. 
         [0027]    Each serrated strip  14  is preferably made from a material that is known for its warmth and outdoor protection properties. Single-sided fleece is an ideal material, with double-sided fleece being even better. Polar fleece is still better suited to warmth retention, but the extra cost of polar fleece must be weighed against its excellent retention properties. Felt materials have been tried, but are somewhat less supple and not as suitable for use in the present invention. Single-sided fleece and double-sided fleece are therefore the materials which are preferred. Various combinations of these materials can be assembled to give scarves having different aesthetic effects. 
         [0028]    The plurality of individually protruding pieces of material create spaces for trapping air along the entire length of the scarf  10 . As is known, trapped air spaces act as excellent insulation, holding the body&#39;s warmth within the area covered by the scarf. The team rally scarf of the present invention thus retains body heat to a greater degree, and is accordingly a much warmer garment, than the scarves known in the prior art. 
         [0029]    The rally, cheer, and encouragement aspect of the scarf of the present invention is achieved by careful selection of the color patterns and color combinations of the serrated strips  14 . Basic colors are selected to match the colors of the team being cheered. For example, if the team colors are red and white, only the colors red and white will be used for the strips  14 . As an example, referring to  FIG. 4 , strips  14 A and  14   c  may be red while strips  14   b  and  14   d  may be white. When assembly  15  having this color combination is completed, the resultant team rally scarf  10  ( FIG. 1 ) will display the colors red and white, flashing and changing in red/white combinations as the scarf is moved. 
         [0030]      FIGS. 5 and 6  illustrate alternative embodiments for the serrated strips used in assembling the team rally scarf  10 , which alternative embodiments result in scarves having different color patterns and aesthetic effects.  FIG. 5  shows how longitudinally extending notches can be cut into the sides of a serrated strip  24 . The length and number of notches can be varied depending upon the effects desired. For example, if the strip  24  shown in  FIG. 5  is red, and if an underlying strip is white and unnotched (as strip  14  in  FIG. 1 ), then the red/white color effect will be entirely different than the red/white color effect described in the previous paragraph. Various notched and/or unnotched serrated strips can be assembled in the manner shown in  FIG. 4  to achieve still more variable color effects. In all cases, however, the strips are sewn together as previously described and result in a scarf  10  having the physical appearance shown in  FIG. 1 . 
         [0031]    The alternative embodiment of  FIG. 6  results in scarves having different color patterns and aesthetic effects due to variations in the depth (toward the strip center) of the individual cuts along the edges of the serrated strip. As seen in  FIG. 6 , serrated strip of material  34  comprises essentially the same elements as strip  14  of  FIG. 3 , except that the depth of individual cuts along the edges thereof vary along the length of the strip  34 . This variation may be periodic or random, the only requirement being that the cuts do not reach the center line or spine  39  of the strip  34 . A serrated strip cut according to this alternative embodiment results in a plurality of individually protruding pieces of material of varying lengths, such pieces having correspondingly different degrees of flexibility. The strip  34  shown in  FIG. 6  is assembled with other serrated strips in the manner shown in  FIG. 4 . 
         [0032]    Team rally scarves according to this invention encompass scarves assembled from all possible combinations of disclosed serrated strips, including strips  14  of  FIG. 3 , strips  24  of  FIG. 5 , and strips  34  of  FIG. 6 . Likewise, all possible color combinations of serrated strips or portions of strips (e.g. strips having a solid color throughout, strips having one color on the front side and a different color on the back side, and strips having multiple colors on one or both sides) are encompassed. Moreover, the invention encompasses scarves assembled from all possible combinations of the above. 
         [0033]    Other modifications are, of course, possible and are to be considered within the scope of the present invention. It is possible to incorporate an elastic band where the plurality of serrated strips of material are sewn together, giving the scarf a more “stretchy” characteristic. It is also possible to use material (or to treat the material used) so as to obtain a twisting or curling effect of the plurality of individually protruding pieces of material and/or the entire scarf itself. It is even possible to ball up the scarf, attach it to a stick or rod, and have a traditional pom-pom! 
         [0034]    In use, the team rally scarf of the present invention is initially worn around the neck in a conventional manner. As explained above, the scarf&#39;s exceptional warmth keeps the wearer quite comfortable. Its functionality as a cheering aid becomes apparent when worn to a sporting event, such as a football game. The scarf, having some combination of the wearer&#39;s team&#39;s colors, can be lifted above the head and shaken like a pom-pom. The scarf can be grasped at one end and safely swung around and around. The scarf can be balled up and shaken. All of these manners of cheering or encouraging the team are easily accomplished with the team rally scarf. 
         [0035]    When a large number of fans have team rally scarves and are cheering with them simultaneously in the above-described manner, the combined effect is aesthetically exciting and pleasing. 
         [0036]    While exemplary aspects and embodiments of the invention have been discussed above, those of ordinary skill in the art will recognize certain modifications, permutations, and additions thereof. It is therefore intended that the claims which follow are interpreted to include all such modifications, permutations, and additions as are within their true spirit and scope.