Patent Publication Number: US-2009229029-A1

Title: Stain release interlining for clothing

Description:
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION 
     This application is a continuation of U.S. Non-Provisional Patent Application No. 11/590,690 filed Oct. 31, 2006, which claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 60/731,810, filed Oct. 31, 2005, the contents of which are incorporated herein by reference. 
    
    
     FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
     This invention relates to garments and garment parts having soil and stain resistant and/or stain release properties, and to methods for producing the same. 
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     “Ring around the collar” is a common problem with men&#39;s and women&#39;s shirts and other garments. Frequent wear of a garment will result in accumulation and absorption of body oils, perspiration, dirt and other contaminants, specifically around the collar and cuff of a shirt or around the waist band of trousers. Absorption of these contaminants results in unsightly stains that are visible along the inner surface of the neck bands, collars, plackets, cuffs, waist bands and other parts of garments. 
     The age old remedy of trying to remove the stain by spraying, rubbing or soaking it prior to washing has had limited success—the stain cannot always be removed through these methods. In a traditional garment made from, e.g., cotton or poly/cotton, the stain is trapped between the layers of the collar, cuff, etc. and not released during washing. 
     Numerous attempts to prevent stains from forming on garments in the first place have been made. These attempts have all involved the use of disposable liners that are affixed to the garment. Such liners are described in, e.g., U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,653,119, 6,105,166, 5,940,882, and 5,711,030. These disposable liners can be formed from different materials, but all have one thing in common: they are designed to absorb stains and then be detached from the garment and discarded when they are soiled or worn. 
     The major disadvantage of these liners is that they do not provide permanent soil and stain resistant and/or release properties. They require constant maintenance to remove old liners and insert new ones, the liners themselves show unsightly stains as they are soiled from use, and a supply of new liners must be purchased and maintained as replacements. 
     Attempts have also been made to treat garment fabrics with a chemical process that enables the garment to resist stains and/or to repel and release any staining that does occur. One prior art process is provided by Nano-tex (www.nano-tex.com), which is applied to fabric and interacts with the fibers of the fabric on a nanometer-scale. Garments having fabric treated by these chemical processes are effective in preventing stains from occurring or in allowing stains to wash out easily. But these treatments have heretofore been applied only to the garment fabric, and not to collar and other garment interlinings. Moreover, these treatment processes do not prevent soil and stains from being trapped within the layers of fabric in the neck band, collar, cuff, placket or other garment parts. These processes have thus been ineffective in preventing “ring around the collar” from forming on the these garment parts. 
     There thus remains a need for a garment having good soil and stain resistant and/or release properties that prevent “ring around the collar” (as well as stains in other areas) from developing on the garment and that do not rely on use of disposable liners. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     The present invention relates to garments and garment parts having soil and stain resistant and/or release properties, and to methods for producing the same. The soil and stain resistant and/or release properties may be provided by Oxford Industries&#39; Ring Free™ process, which is applied to the interlinings and preferably, but not necessarily, the garment fabrics themselves such that a finished garment made with such interlinings and garment fabric will resist soiling and staining and/or release accumulated soil and stains when washed. 
     In a preferred embodiment, the interlining of a garment is first treated with a stain-resistant and/or stain-release coating and then positioned between two layers of the garment fabric. A particularly preferable stain-resistant and/or stain-release coating is the fluorinated polymer Teflon™. The treated interlining can be affixed in the garment in any suitable manner to ensure its retention therein. For example, the interlining may be woven between the two layers of the garment fabric or can be fused between the two layers of garment fabric with an adhesive, such as a polyethylene adhesive. In one example, a treated interlining is sewn between inner and outer layers of a shirt collar. The interlining effectively repels soil and stains so that they are not trapped between the layers of the collar. The interlining also allows any soil and stains that do get absorbed by the interlining to be easily released when the garment is washed, thereby preventing “ring around the collar” from forming on the garment. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1  illustrates a shirt collar and neck band having an interlining according to an embodiment of this invention. 
         FIG. 2  is a schematic, cross-sectional view of the shirt collar of  FIG. 1 . 
         FIG. 3  illustrates a shirt placket having an interlining according to another embodiment of this invention. 
         FIG. 4  illustrates a shirt cuff having an interlining according to another embodiment of this invention. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
     This invention relates to garments or garment parts having interlinings that have been specially treated to prevent soil and stains from setting into a garment and/or readily release soils and stains that do occur in the garment. The present invention is contemplated for use with interlinings used on any part of a garment and is not limited to the specific embodiments or applications disclosed herein. The invention is particularly useful for forming neck bands, collars, plackets and cuffs of shirts and waist bands, linings and cuffs of trousers that resist staining or that release absorbed stains from these garment parts. 
       FIG. 1  shows a collar  20  and neck band  30  of a shirt (not shown in its entirety). The collar  20  and neck band  30  of the shirt have respective treated interlinings  26  and  36  inserted and secured between the layers of garment fabric forming each garment component. Collars are typically formed by securing (such as by stitching or adhering) together a top layer and bottom layer of garment fabric. Similarly, neck bands are formed by securing together an inner and outer layer of garment fabric.  FIG. 2  illustrates interlining  26  inserted between a top layer  22  and bottom layer  24  of collar  20 . Interlining  36  is similarly inserted between the layers of the neck band, as shown in  FIG. 1 . 
       FIG. 3  illustrates a treated interlining  66  inserted into a placket  60  of a shirt between the shell material  64  of the shirt and the top layer  62  of the placket.  FIG. 4  illustrates a treated interlining  76  inserted into a cuff  70  of a shirt sleeve between a top layer  72  and bottom layer (not shown) of cuff  70 . 
     Interlinings  26 ,  36 ,  66 , and  76  are treated with a stain-resistant and/or stain-release coating. The coating applied to the interlinings can be anything that repels soil and stains or, if absorbed in the interlining, readily releases the soil or stain when the garment is washed. A preferable stain-resistant and/or stain-release coating is a fluorinated polymer. A more preferable stain-resistant or stain-release coating is Teflon™. 
     The interlinings can be affixed in their respective garment components in any suitable manner to ensure their retention therein. For example, they can be woven or sewn between the two layers of the garment or garment part or can be fused between the two layers with any adhesive known in the art. A particularly preferable adhesive is a polyethylene adhesive. 
     The garment material itself (i.e., the material actually forming the shirt collar, neck band, placket, cuff, etc.) may also be, but does not have to be, treated with a stain-resistant and/or stain-release coating. The stain-resistant and/or stain-release coating applied to the garment material can be the same as or different than that applied to the interlining. 
     The garment material can be formed from any type of suitable fabric. Preferable materials include cotton, polyester, rayon or combinations thereof. The interlining can be formed from any type of suitable material and can be woven or non-woven. Preferable materials include cotton, polyester, rayon, wood pulp, fiber mesh or combinations thereof. The garment material and interlining material can be, but do not have to be, the same. Typically, the interlining is constructed of a more rigid material than the garment material. The weight, yarn count and fiber content, among other known variables, can be adjusted to provide an interlining that provides suitable stiffness and form for the garment part. Regardless of the materials used to form the interlinings and garment components, it will typically be preferable, but certainly not required, to treat those materials with the stain-resistant and/or stain-release coating before they are cut into the desired dimensions to form interlinings or garment components. 
     As discussed, the stain-resistant or stain-release coating effectively repels soil and stains so that they are not trapped between the layers of the collar. The interlining also allows any soil and stains that do get absorbed by the interlining to be easily released when the garment is washed, thereby preventing “ring around the collar” (as well as stains in other areas) from forming on the garment. 
     The foregoing is provided for the purpose of illustrating, explaining and describing embodiments of the present invention. Further modifications and adaptations to these embodiments will be apparent to those skilled in the art and may be made without departing from the spirit of the invention or the scope of the claims.