Abstract:
A trouser ornament generally including an upper portion, a lower portion, and a connector portion for connecting the upper and lower portion; the portions being arranged such that the trouser ornament is preferably placed about the fly of a pair of trousers wherein the upper portion rests on and extends across at least a portion of the top surface of the fly, the lower portion rests on and extends across at least a portion of the bottom surface of the fly and the connector portion is preferably maintained at the edge of the fly.

Description:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
     This invention relates to ornaments which may be applied to clothing, and more particularly, to a clip which is used to accentuate the fly on trousers. 
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     Numerous types of clothing enhancement articles have been patented. Those that have been patented generally address the enhancement or accentuation of that type of clothing worn about the upper torso of the body, e.g., shirts, blouses, jackets, vests, etc., or, alternatively, the enhancement or accentuation of footwear. 
     For example, as to the former, U.S. Pat. No. 3,605,300 describes a badge that may be used to enhance or accentuate the epaulet of a uniform. U.S. Pat. No. 4,361,936 describes a unique cufflink that may be used to enhance or accentuate the cuff of a shirt. U.S. Pat. No. 4,558,469 describes a triangularly shaped trim article that may be used to enhance or accentuate the collar of a shirt or jacket. And, U.S. Pat. No. 4,922,553 describes a support device that may also be used to enhance or accentuate the collar of a shirt or jacket. 
     As to the latter, U.S. Pat. Nos. 1,325,929, 1,366,929, 1,366,153, and 1,761,834 disclose ornaments that may be attached to the upper of a pump-style shoe to enhance or accentuate the shoe. U.S. Pat. No. 5,136,726 describes a hook and loop decoration that may be placed in any location on a fabric shoe to enhance or accentuate the shoe. And, U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,459,947 and 5,845,422 describe articles that may engage or be placed atop the laces of a shoe to enhance or accentuate the shoe. 
     An area where clothing ornamentation has seemingly been ignored is that of trousers, especially the fly of trousers. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     A trouser ornament of the present invention substantially addresses that ignored area of ornamentation as described above. The trouser ornament generally comprises an upper portion, a lower portion and a connector portion of connecting the upper and lower portion. The trouser ornament is preferably placed about the fly of a pair of trousers wherein the upper portion rests on and extends across at least a portion of the top surface of the fly and the lower portion rests on and extends across at least a portion of the bottom surface of the fly. The connector portion is preferably maintained at the edge of the fly. 
     The upper and lower portions are preferably rectangular in shape while the connector portion preferably comprises an elbow or a hinge bracket. Trouser ornament may be held in position relative the fly of the rousers by virtue of friction between the trouser ornament and the fabric comprising the fly. Alternatively, trouser ornament may be provided with a manner of clamping itself to the fly, e.g., tightening the upper portion to the lower portion by virtue of a hinge bracket or angular shape of trouser ornament itself. Additionally, trouser ornament may be equipped with a rough surface and/or gripping teeth to enhance the hold of the trouser ornament to the fly. 
     Trouser ornament may be made of any suitable material, e.g., plastics, nylons, but is preferably made of metal so as to allow the user to decoratively enhance the upper portion of trouser ornament with logos and/or artistic designs. Upper portion may be otherwise creatively enhanced as well. 
    
    
     DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     FIG. 1 is a front view of the upper portion of a pair of trousers, including the fly with the trouser ornament of the present invention applied thereto. 
     FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the fly of FIG.  1 . 
     FIGS. 3A-3C depict a first preferred embodiment of the trouser ornament of the present invention wherein FIG. 3A is a top plan view, FIG. 3B is a side plan view, and FIG. 3C is a top perspective view. 
     FIG. 4 depicts how magnets may be used to decorate the trouser ornament of the present invention. 
     FIGS. 5A-5C depict an alternative embodiment of the trouser ornament of the present invention wherein FIG. 5A is top plan view, FIG. 5B is side plan view, and FIG. 5C is a top perspective view. 
     FIGS. 6A-6B depict another alternative embodiment of the trouser ornament of the present invention wherein FIG. 6A is a rear plan view and FIG. 6B is a side plan view. 
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
     Referring to FIGS. 1 and 2, a trouser ornament  10  of the present invention is shown as preferably used and located on a fly  12  of a pair of trouser  14 , wherein trousers  14  are defined as any type of clothing incorporating fly  12 , e.g., pants, shorts, overalls. As shown, trouser ornament  10  is preferably of a clip design having an upper portion  16 , a lower portion  18  and a connecting portion  20  that connects upper portion  16  to lower portion  18 . Portions  16 ,  18  and  20  may be integral, homogenous, separate or other design that provides for securing the upper portion  16  to a fly  12 . Upper portion  16  of trouser ornament  10  preferably extends across at least a portion of fly  12 , and preferably, to at least the center of fly  12 , as indicated by center line  22 . Upper portion  16  may extend past center line  22  to seam  24  and beyond, keeping in mind that the farther past seam  24  upper portion  16  extends, the more difficult fly  12  will be to open. Upper portion  16  is preferably positioned atop fly  12  and lower portion  18  below fly  12 , such that there is little or no room between edge  26  of fly  12  connecting portion  20 ; a large gap between edge  26  and connecting portion  20  may allow trouser ornament  10  to undesirably slide from a preferred position. 
     A preferred embodiment of trouser ornament  10  is shown in FIGS. 3A-3C. As shown, both upper portion  16  and lower portion  18  are preferably of substantially similar dimensions and are preferably rectangular in shape. However, it should be noted that upper portion  16  and lower portion  18  may have differing shapes and dimensions without departing from the spirit or scope of the invention. The upper portion  16  is anything that is decorative or supports a decorative feature, while the lower portion  18  is anything that assists in securing the upper portion  16  to the fly  12  regardless of its mode and manner of attachment to the fly  12 . Connecting portion  20  is preferably an elbow extending across the full width of upper portion  16  and lower portion  18 , and of sufficient height, e.g., approximately 0.1 to 0.5 inches, to accommodate edge  26  of fly  12 . Connecting portion  20  is anything that provides the functional connection between the upper portion  16  and lower portion  18  and may help to maintain upper portion  16  at specific separation distance from lower portion  18  along the full length of upper portion  16 . In this preferred embodiment, upper portion  16  and lower portion  18  are unitary with connecting portion  20  and, as such, are fabricated from a single material, which is preferably metal (however, other materials such as plastics may be used without departing from the spirit or scope of the invention). 
     The preferred embodiment of trouser ornament  10 , as depicted in FIGS. 3A-3C, generally provides an integral type of clamping action in securing trouser ornament  10  to fly  12 . That is, trouser ornament  10  is maintained in position of fly  12  by virtue of friction between the fabric from which fly  12  is made and trouser ornament  10  itself. Very smooth fabrics may present a difficulty in attempting to hold trouser ornament  10  in position. To enhance the frictional hold, trouser ornament  10  is preferably used on rough fabrics such as jeans. Alternatively, that side of upper portion  16 , lower portion  18 , and/or connecting portion  20  in contact with fly  12  may be roughened and/or provided with teeth  29  of any shape, indicated with dashed lines on FIG. 3B, to enhance the hold of trouser ornament  10  to fabric fly  12 . 
     Because, in the embodiment of FIGS. 3A-3C, trouser ornament  10  is preferably of metal, magnets  28  containing logos, slogans, designs, or other artistic creations may be used to decorate upper portion  16 , See FIG.  4 . This magnetic feature allows a user to change magnets  28  (artistic creations) as desired. Alternatively, upper portion  16  itself may be painted, etched, engraved or otherwise creatively enhanced. 
     Referring to FIGS. 5A-5C, an alternative embodiment of trouser ornament  10  is depicted. Once again upper portion  16  and lower portion  18  are of a rectangular shape connected by connecting portion  20 , which preferably comprises an elbow extending the full width of upper portion  16  and lower portion  18 , and which is of sufficient height to accommodate edge  26  of fly  12 . Of course other shapes and dimensions may be used without departing from the spirit or scope of the invention. In the embodiment of FIG. 5, upper portion  16  is presented at an acute angle to the substantially horizontal plane created by lower portion  18 . In this manner, upper portion  16  is substantially clamped to lower portion  18  even when fly  12  is inserted between upper portion  16  and lower portion  18 . Upper portion  16  is preferably provided with an upturned lip edge  20  which allows the user to more easily lift upper portion  16  from its substantially clamped position against lower portion  18  for insertion of fly  12 . 
     In this embodiment, upper portion  16  and lower portion  18  are unitary with connecting portion  20  and as such, are fabricated from a single material, which is preferably metal (however, other materials such as plastics may be used without departing from the spirit of scope of the invention). Because, as with the earlier embodiment, trouser ornament  10  is preferably of metal, magnet  28  containing logos, slogans, designs, or other artistic creations may be used to decorate upper portion  16 , see FIG.  4 . This magnetic feature allows a user to change magnets  28  (artistic creations) as desired. Alternatively, upper portion  16  itself may be painted, etched, engraved or otherwise creatively enhanced. It should be noted that trouser ornament  10  of FIG. 5 may be reversed such that upper portion  16  becomes the lower portion presenting lip edge  30  at the back of fly  12  and lower portion  18  becomes the upper portion and each portion  16 ,  18  may have alternate designs thereon. 
     While trouser ornament  10  embodiment of FIG. 5 does provide a manner of clamping ornament  10  to fly  12  (e.g., the acute angle of upper portion  16  relative lower portion  18  that allows upper portion  16  to press against lower portion  18 , that side of upper portion  16 , lower portion  18 , and/or connecting portion  20  in contact with fly  12  may be roughened and/or provided with teeth  18  to enhance the hold of trouser ornament  10  to fabric fly  12 . 
     Referring to FIGS. 6A and 6B, a third embodiment of trouser ornament  10  is depicted. In this embodiment, upper portion  16  is a rectangular plate while lower portion  18  is a rectangular plate of a smaller dimension that is provided with a first and second side extension  32 . Of course, other shapes and dimensions may be used without departing from the spirit or scope of the invention. Connecting portion  20  in this embodiment comprises a hinge bracket, secured to the bottom side of upper portion  16 , incorporating a first and second aperture  34  for insertion of first and second side extensions  32 . As such, lower portion  18  pivots relative stationary upper portion  16  and connecting portion  20 . In this manner, lower portion  18  may be rotated towards upper portion  16  so as to clamp trouser ornament  10  to fly  12 . 
     In the embodiment of FIG. 6, upper portion  16 , lower portion  18  and connecting portion  20  are generally not of unitary configuration. As such, each portion may be fabricated from a different material, however, each is preferably fabricated from metal, to allow for the magnetic feature described above. As with the other embodiments, upper portion  16 , in this instance, may be painted, etched, engraved, or otherwise creatively enhanced. Additionally, as with the other embodiments, the side of upper portion  16 , lower portion  18  and/or connecting portion  20  in contact with fly  12  may be roughened and/or provided with teeth to enhance the hold of trouser ornament  10  to fabric fly  12 . 
     The present invention may be embodied in other specific forms without departing from the essential attributes thereof; therefore, the illustrated embodiments should be considered in all respects as illustrative and not restrictive, reference being made to the appended claims rather than to the foregoing description to indicate the scope of the invention.