Patent Publication Number: US-2010115734-A1

Title: Necktie Restraint

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     This invention relates to neckties and, more particularly, to a necktie restraint that provides an elongate member that may be engaged to a shirt button and that includes spaced apart magnets that may be folded around a necktie tab so to restrain a necktie to a shirt. 
     A traditional necktie includes an elongate fabric material that is tied in a knot about a user&#39;s neck and then includes a pair of tails, one larger than the other, hanging from the knot across the torso of a wearer. Unfortunately, the tails often become separated and disoriented from one another, resulting in a sloppy or unprofessional presentation. Most neckties include a necktie tab on an inner surface of the larger tail, presumably to receive the smaller tail and maintain a connected and oriented presentation. However, the lengths of the tails may not enable the smaller tail to be received in the tab or the tails may become separated in use and require repeated re-orientation. 
     Various devices have been proposed in the art for restraining the tails of a necktie so as to maintain an orderly presentation. Although assumably effective for their intended purposes, the existing devices disadvantageously require piercing the necktie, employ multiple pieces that may become lost or are uneasy to manipulate, require applying adhesive to the necktie, or do not restrain the necktie to a shirt. 
     Therefore, it would be desirable to have a necktie restraint that may be attached to a shirt button and then connected to a necktie tab. Further, it would be desirable to have a necktie restraint that includes only a single member that may be folded about the tab of a necktie and releasably secured with magnets. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     A necktie restraint according to the present invention includes an elongate member having first and second ends and a buttonhole therebetween. The necktie restraint includes a first magnetic member coupled to the elongate member adjacent the first end and a second magnetic member coupled to the elongate member adjacent the second end. The second magnetic member is complementary to the first magnetic member so as to selectively couple the first end to the second end. The buttonhole is configured to receive a shirt button to selectively couple the elongate member to a shirt and the elongate member is configured to pass through a necktie tab to selectively couple the elongate member to the necktie. 
     Therefore, a general object of this invention is to provide a necktie restraint to restrain a necktie to a shirt. 
     Another object of this invention is to provide a necktie restraint, as aforesaid, having only a single component and coupling to a button of a shirt and to the tab of a necktie. 
     Still another object of this invention is to provide a necktie restraint, as aforesaid, having spaced apart magnets that releasably couple to one another so as to envelop a tab of a necktie. 
     Yet another object of this invention is to provide a necktie restraint, as aforesaid, that is user-friendly to use and economical to manufacture. 
     Other objects and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the following description taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, wherein is set forth by way of illustration and example, embodiments of this invention. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1  is a fragmentary perspective view of a necktie restraint attached to a shirt and button according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention; 
         FIG. 2   a  is a side view of the necktie restraint as in  FIG. 1  in use with a shirt and necktie; 
         FIG. 2   b  is an isolated view on an enlarged scale taken from a portion of  FIG. 2   a;    
         FIG. 3   a  is a perspective view of the necktie receiver as in  FIG. 1  removed from the shirt and in an unfolded configuration; 
         FIG. 3   b  is a perspective view of the necktie receiver as in  FIG. 3   a  in a folded configuration; 
         FIG. 4   a  is a top view of the necktie receiver as in  FIG. 3   a;    
         FIG. 4   b  is a sectional view taken along lines  4   b - 4   b  of  FIG. 4   a;    
         FIG. 4   c  is an isolated view on an enlarged scale taken from a portion of  FIG. 4   b;    
         FIG. 5  is a front view of the necktie restraint in use with a shirt and necktie; and 
         FIG. 6  is an isolated view on an enlarged scale taken from a portion of  FIG. 5 . 
     
    
    
     DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
     A necktie restraint will now be described in detail with reference to  FIG. 1  through  FIG. 6  of the accompanying drawings. More particularly, a necktie restraint  100  for use with a necktie  10  and a shirt  15  having buttons  16  includes an elongate member  110 , a first magnetic member  120 , and a second magnetic member  130 . The necktie  10  has front and rear sides  12   a ,  12   b , and a tab  14  extends from the necktie rear side  12   b  ( FIG. 2   a ). 
     As shown in  FIG. 3   a , the elongate member  110  has first and second ends  112   a ,  112   b , and opposed sides  114   a ,  114   b  may extend from the first end  112   a  to the second end  112   b . The elongate member  110  may be foldable to place the first end  112   a  adjacent the second end  112   b  ( FIG. 3   b ), and the elongate member  110  may be constructed of textile or any other appropriate material. As shown in  FIG. 1 , the shirt  15  may have a distance D 1  between consecutive buttons  16 , and a distance between the first and second ends  112   a ,  112   b  may be at least as long as the distance D 1 . The elongate member  110  is configured to pass through the necktie tab  14  to selectively couple the elongate member  110  to the necktie  10 ; for example, a distance between the sides  114   a ,  114   b  may be selected to allow the elongate member  110  to pass through the necktie tab  14  ( FIG. 2   b ). 
     The first magnetic member  120  is coupled to the elongate member  110  adjacent the first end  112   a , and the second magnetic member  130  is coupled to the elongate member  110  adjacent the second  112   b . As shown in  FIGS. 4   b  and  4   c , the magnetic members  120 ,  130  may be enveloped by the elongate member  110 , and the magnetic member  120 ,  130  may be sewn into or otherwise coupled to (e.g., by adhesive, etc.) the elongate member  110 . The second magnetic member  130  is complementary to the first magnetic member  120  to selectively couple the first end  112   a , to the second end  112   b  ( FIGS. 2   b  and  3   b ). 
     Means are included for coupling the elongate member  110  to a respective shirt button  16 . For example, a loop may extend from the elongate member  110  to interact with the button  16 . In another example, a buttonhole  115  configured to receive the shirt button  16  is located between the first and second ends  112   a ,  112   b , as shown in  FIG. 3   a . The buttonhole  115  may be relatively adjacent to the first end  112   a  and relatively distant to the second end  112   b , or in other words, may be closer to the first end  112   a  than to the second end  112   b . The buttonhole  115  may extend generally parallel to the sides  114   a ,  114   b , as shown in  FIG. 4   a.    
     In use, the elongate member  110  is coupled to a respective shirt button  16 . As shown in  FIG. 1 , the button  16  may pass through the buttonhole  115 . The second end  112   b  of the elongate member  110  may then be folded through the necktie tab  14 , and the magnetic members  120 ,  130  may couple the first end  112   a  to the second end  112   b , as shown in  FIG. 2   b . Once the elongate member is coupled to the shirt button  16  and the necktie tab  14  in this manner, the elongate member  110  may act as a tether and maintain the necktie  10  adjacent the shirt  15 . Positioning the buttonhole  115  as described above may allow the magnetic members  120 ,  130  to interact without being directly adjacent the necktie tab  14 , and the length of the elongate member  110  may allow the necktie restraint  100  to be used regardless of where the necktie tab  14  is located between the shirt buttons  16 . For example, the necktie restraint  100  could be rotated one hundred and eighty degrees and attached to the lower shirt button  16  if necessary to interact with the necktie tab  14  (e.g., if the tab  14  were between those buttons  16  and not reachable by the restraint  100  when positioned as shown in  FIG. 1 ). 
     It is understood that while certain forms of this invention have been illustrated and described, it is not limited thereto except insofar as such limitations are included in the following claims and allowable functional equivalents thereof.