Abstract:
A decorative animal article, such as a collar or a leash, having a plurality of decorative components adhesively attached to a flexible band with lengths of thread extending through the decorative components from one end of the flexible band to the opposite end of the flexible band to provide added protection against the decorative components falling off the flexible band when, for example, the adhesive fails.

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS  
       [0001]     The present application claims the benefit of U.S. non-provisional patent application Ser. No. 10/994,755 filed Nov. 22, 2004 which is expressly incorporated herein in its entirety by reference thereto. 
     
    
     FIELD OF THE INVENTION  
       [0002]     The present invention relates, in general, to articles worn by or used with animals and, in particular, to articles such as the collars and leashes worn by or used with cats and dogs.  
       BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
       [0003]     Many, many owners of cats and dogs treat their pets in very special ways, by dressing them up with decorative articles such as fancy collars and leashes. Such decorative animal articles having, for example, glass beads or semi precious gems that typically are adhesively attached to a flexible band can be quite expensive.  
         [0004]     Because the band of such a collar must be flexible to adapt to the curvature of the neck of the animal or the band of such a leash must be flexible to function effectively as a leash, there is a tendency for the decorative components to loosen or fall off the band when the adhesive fails as the band flexes. The result is a band of poor appearance (i.e., irregularly spaced voids along the band) and the loss of valuable items (i.e., decorative components lost as they fall off the band).  
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
       [0005]     A decorative animal article, constructed in accordance with the present invention, includes a flexible band and a plurality of decorative components adhesively attached to the flexible band along a selected length of the flexible band. Each of the decorative components has a first through hole extending parallel to the length of the flexible band and aligned with the first through hole of an adjacent decorative component and a second through hole extending parallel to the length of the flexible band and aligned with the second through hole of an adjacent decorative component. A first length of thread extends from a first end of the selected length of the flexible band through the first through holes of the decorative components to a second end of the selected length of the flexible band and is anchored to the flexible band at the first end of the selected length of the flexible band and at the second end of the selected length of the flexible band. A second length of thread extends from the first end of the selected length of the flexible band through the second through holes of the decorative components to the second end of the selected length of the flexible band and is anchored to the flexible band at the first end of the selected length of the flexible band and at the second end of selected length of the flexible band.  
         [0006]     Although the present invention will be described in connection with pet collars and leashes worn by or used with cats and dogs, it will be apparent that it has broader application and can be employed in other decorative articles worn by or used with other animals. 
     
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0007]      FIG. 1  is a top view of a preferred embodiment of a pet collar constructed in accordance with the present invention.  
         [0008]      FIG. 2  shows a portion of the bottom of the  FIG. 1  pet collar.  
         [0009]      FIG. 3  is a sectional view, on an enlarged scale, of the  FIG. 1  pet collar taken along line  3 - 3  of  FIG. 1 .  
         [0010]      FIG. 4  is a perspective view of a preferred embodiment of a pet leash constructed in accordance with the present invention. 
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION  
       [0011]     Referring to  FIGS. 1, 2 , and  3 , a pet collar, constructed in accordance with the present invention, includes a flexible band  10  having a series of aligned belt holes  10   a  at a first end and a belt buckle  10   b  and a leash clip loop  10   c  at a second end. Leash clip loop  10   c  is adapted to receive a leash clip, such as the one shown in  FIG. 4  and identified by reference numeral  11 , in the usual manner. Flexible band  10  preferably is leather.  
         [0012]     A pet collar, constructed in accordance with the present invention, also includes a plurality of decorative components  12 ,  14 ,  16  . . . that is adhesively attached to flexible leather band  10  along a selected length of the flexible leather band. As shown most clearly in  FIG. 3 , each decorative component (e.g.,  16 ) has a first through hole (e.g.,  16   a ) extending parallel to the length of flexible leather band  10  and aligned with the first through hole of an adjacent decorative component and a second through hole (e.g.,  16   b ) extending parallel to the length of the flexible leather band and aligned with the second through hole of an adjacent decorative component.  
         [0013]     A pet collar, constructed in accordance with the present invention, further includes first and second lengths of thread  18  and  20  by which the decorative components (e.g.,  12 ,  14 ,  16 ) are secured to flexible leather band  10 . A first length of thread  18  extends from a first end of the selected length of the flexible leather band  10  along which the decorative components are attached to the flexible leather band through the first through holes (e.g.,  16   a ) of the decorative components to the second end of the of the selected length of the flexible leather band along which the decorative components are attached to the flexible leather band and a second length of thread  20  extends from the first end of the selected length of the flexible leather band along which the decorative components are attached to the flexible leather band through the second through holes (e.g.,  16   b ) of the decorative components to the second end of the selected length of the flexible leather band along which the decorative components are attached to the flexible leather band. The lengths of thread  18  and  20  should be sufficiently strong to withstand the flexing of flexible leather band  10  and not break when the flexible leather band flexes. The first length of thread  18  and the second length of thread  20  can be metallic wire.  
         [0014]     A first end  18   a  of the first length of thread  18  and a first end  20   a  of the second length of thread  20  are anchored to flexible leather band  10  at the first end of the selected length of the flexible leather band along which the decorative components (e.g.,  12 ,  14 ,  16 ) are attached to the flexible leather band. A second end  18   b  of the first length of thread  18  and a second end  20   b  of the second length of thread  20  are anchored to flexible leather band  10  at the second end of the of the selected length of the flexible leather band along which the decorative components (e.g.,  12 ,  14 ,  16 ) are attached to the flexible leather band.  
         [0015]     The first length of thread  18  and the second length of thread  20  can be separate pieces of thread or, as illustrated, a single piece of thread. The single piece thread is indicated by the dotted line between thread lengths  18   b  and  20   b  in  FIG. 2 .  
         [0016]     When the first length of thread  18  and the second length of thread  20  are a single piece of thread: 
        (a) the first end  18   a  of the single piece of thread extends through the thickness of flexible leather band  10  at the first end of the selected length of the flexible leather band along which the decorative components are attached to the flexible leather band and has a length that extends transverse to the length of the flexible leather band on the bottom surface of the flexible leather band as shown in  FIG. 2 ,     (b) the single piece of thread extends from the first end of the selected length of flexible leather band  10  along which the decorative components (e.g.,  12 ,  14 ,  16 ) are attached to the flexible leather band through the first through holes (e.g.,  16   a ) of the decorative components to the second end of the selected length of the flexible leather band along which the decorative components are attached to the flexible leather band,     (c) the mid-section of the single piece of thread extends through the thickness of flexible leather band  10  at the second end of the selected length of the flexible leather band along which the decorative components are attached to the flexible leather band to the bottom surface of the flexible leather band and extends transverse to the length of the flexible leather band on the bottom surface of the flexible leather band as shown in  FIG. 2 ,     (d) the single piece of thread extends through the thickness of flexible leather band  10  to the top surface of the flexible leather band and through the second through holes (e.g.,  16   b ) of the decorative components (e.g.,  16 ,  14 ,  12 ) to the first end of the selected length of the flexible leather band along which the decorative components are attached to the flexible leather band, and     (e) the second end  20   a  of the single length of thread extends through the thickness of flexible leather band  10  at the first end of the selected length of the flexible leather band along which the decorative components are attached to the flexible leather band to the bottom surface of the flexible leather band and extends transverse to the length of the flexible leather band as shown in  FIG. 2 . 
 
 The ends  18   a  and  20   a  of the single length of thread are bent against the bottom surface of flexible leather band  10  to secure the single length of thread to the flexible leather band. 
       
 
         [0022]     When the first length of thread  18  and the second length of thread  20  are separate pieces: 
        (a) the first end  18   a  of the first length of thread  18  extends through the thickness of flexible leather band  10  and has a length that extends transverse to the length of the flexible leather band on the bottom surface of the flexible leather band as shown in  FIG. 2 ,     (b) the second end  18   b  of the first length of thread  18  extends through the thickness of flexible leather band  10  and has a length that extends transverse to the length of the flexible leather band on the bottom surface of the flexible leather band as shown in  FIG. 2 .     (c) the first end  20   a  of the second length of thread  20  extends through the thickness of flexible leather band  10  and has a length that extends transverse to the length of the flexible leather band on the bottom surface of the flexible leather band as shown in  FIG. 2 , and     (d) the second end  20   b  of the second length of thread  20  extends through the thickness of flexible leather band  10  and has a length that extends transverse to the length of the flexible leather band on the bottom surface of the flexible leather band a shown in  FIG. 2 . 
 
 The ends  18   a ,  20   a  and  18   b ,  20   b  of the separate lengths of thread are bent against the bottom surface of flexible leather band  10  to secure the two lengths of thread to the flexible leather band. 
       
 
         [0027]     Referring to  FIG. 4 , a pet leash, constructed in accordance with the present invention, includes a leash clip  11 , a leash lead  22 , and a leash grip  24 . The  FIG. 4  pet leash further includes a plurality of decorative components, identified by reference numeral  26 , that extends along a selected length of leash lead  22  on one or both sides and is adhesively attached to the leash lead and secured to the leash lead by threads in a manner previously described in connection with the pet collar illustrated by  FIGS. 1, 2 , and  3 .  
         [0028]     Although the invention is illustrated and described herein with reference to specific embodiments, the invention is not intended to be limited to the details shown. Rather, various modifications may be made in the details within the scope and range of equivalents of the claims and without departing from the invention.