Patent Abstract:
A convenient and simple method to apply permanent designs, artwork, messages, etc. . . . to shoes by manually by applying a tattoo having a base layer, a top layer, and an intermediate ink layer containing the design, artwork, or message to applied. The ink layer is permanently transferred to the shoe by manually applying pressure or water.

Full Description:
[0001]    This application claims the benefit of priority to U.S. provisional patent application 61/576,017 filed on Dec. 15, 2011. 
     
    
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
       [0002]    The present invention relates to a method for decorating non-washable shoes, apparel, and accessories with images, designs, artwork, messages, etc. . . . 
       BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
       [0003]    An object of this invention is to provide a convenient and simple method for a user to manually apply designs, artwork, messages, etc. . . . to shoes, clothing, and accessories. It is common for users to want to decorate items of clothing, accessories, and shoes. A number of methods are known for doing this. For shoes such methods may include swapping shoe laces with laces in a new color, a length of textured ribbon or printed twill tape. Wrapping lace around sandal straps, gluing decorative trim to flip-flops or using ribbon and jump rings to add charms to a shoe. Other methods include, for example, adding a clip-on earring, affixing metal studs or self-adhesive rhinestones, arranging small gems around the tops or toes of shoes. It is also known to use iron-on patches and add stickers or decals to shoes. Hook and loop fasteners (a.k.a. “velcro”) may be used to semi-permanently attach decorative items to shoes, accessories or articles of clothing. The use of fabric markers and paint for decorative purposes is also known. 
         [0004]    All of the aforementioned methods of decorating a shoe or accessory however don&#39;t give a user a convenient, easy, and quick way of manually applying permanent high quality pre-made artwork, designs, or messages to shoes, clothing or accessories. The present invention achieves this through a user applied apparel tattoo. 
         [0005]    Tattoos as applied the skin of a person are well known in the art. Traditional tattoos are made by inserting indelible ink into the dermis layer of the skin to change the pigment. Such traditional tattoos are permanent. Not everyone is interested in a permanent tattoo, so temporary tattoos have been developed. A temporary tattoo is a non-permanent image on the skin usually resembling a permanent tattoo. Temporary tattoos can be drawn, painted, or airbrushed, as a form of body painting but most of the time these tattoos are transferred to the skin 
         [0006]    The modern temporary transfer tattoo generally consists of the following elements: a sheet of paper with a front side and a back side, an adhesive, ink and a removable protective sheet. It comes in two general forms: One which is applied through the use of water, and the other which is a dry transfer or waterless tattoo. Temporary tattoos that are applied with water to the skin use an adhesive waterslide material on a paper substrate. The adhesive waterslide material is typically comprised of dextrose. Such a tattoo will transfer the ink image to skin when water has fully penetrated the paper backing to release the waterslide material which transfers to the skin surface along with the ink image. The adhesive waterslide material when dry will temporarily bond the ink image to the skin surface. A typical waterslide tattoo is applied by the user by pressing the tattoo against the skin and applying water to it, usually with a sponge, until it is well soaked. The backing is then removed with the ink image adhering to the skin surface. 
         [0007]    The dry transfer tattoo does not require the application of water, and has grown in popularity due to sanitary concerns with waterslide tattoos. Specifically, children who are a primary user of temporary tattoos frequently use saliva rather than water to apply the waterslide tattoos. A waterless tattoo usually comprises a base layer, such as for example paper. The base layer has a transfer coating applied to a front surface, and an ink image is applied to the transfer coating. A pressure sensitive adhesive layer is applied on top of the ink layer, followed by a removable protective layer applied on top of the adhesive layer. A user applies the dry transfer tattoo by removing the protective top layer and applying the pressure sensitive adhesive layer to the skin surface, such that the base layer faces away from the skin surface. The user then applies pressure to the base layer for a period of time. The pressure causes the adhesive layer to bond with the skin surface and also bonds the ink image to the adhesive. The user then removes the base layer with the adhesive layer bonding the ink image to the skin surface. 
         [0008]    While the use of temporary tattoos such as described above (and in greater detail herein) is well known for applying images to human skin surfaces, it has not been previously used to apply images, artwork, designs, or messages to the surfaces of non-washable shoes, apparel or accessories. It is the object of the present invention to apply such temporary skin tattoo technology towards a new use on the surfaces of non-washable shoes, apparel and accessories. It should be noted that while such temporary skin tattoo technology is temporary when applied to human skin (which is washed, and where the outer skin cells are shed over time) its effect is of a more permanent nature when applied to articles of non-washable shoes, apparel and accessory items (e.g. purses, bags, etc. . . . ). Thus, the use of such “temporary” tattoo technology can achieve a convenient, affordable, and easy way for a user to manually apply permanent high quality pre-made artwork, designs, or messages to non-washable shoes, clothing or accessories. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0009]      FIG. 1  is a schematic illustrating a cross-section of a dry transfer tattoo as used in the present apparel tattoo method. 
           [0010]      FIG. 2  is a flow chart of a method for applying an image to an article of manufacture such as apparel, shoes, or accessories using a dry transfer tattoo. 
           [0011]      FIG. 3  is a schematic illustrating a cross-section of a waterslide tattoo as used in the present apparel tattoo method. 
           [0012]      FIG. 4  is a flow chart of a method for applying an image to an article of manufacture such as apparel, shoes, or accessories using a waterslide tattoo. 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
       [0013]    In a first preferred embodiment of the present invention a dry transfer tattoo is used to manually apply a permanent image, design, artwork, message, etc. . . . to non-washable shoes, apparel and accessories. Referring to  FIG. 1 , a tattoo  100  according to one embodiment of the present invention is comprised of a base layer  110 ; a transfer coating  120 ; an ink layer  130 ; an adhesive layer  140 ; and a top layer  150 . The base layer  110  and the top layer  150  may be made of plastic film or of paper. The base layer  110  and the top layer  150  may also be different materials. For example, the base layer  110  may be paper and the top layer  150  may be plastic film. The material composition of layers  110 ,  120 ,  130 , and  140  as well as the cumulative thickness  160  of tattoo  100  should be such that tattoo  100  with top layer  150  removed is thin and flexible enough so that it may be readily bent and be applied with full surface contact of adhesive layer  140  across a curved or contoured surface of the article that the ink image is intended to be applied to (e.g. the heel of a shoe). 
         [0014]    The transfer coating  120  is releasably adhered to base layer  110  and enables base layer  110  to be peeled off once adhesive layer  140  is applied to an apparel surface. Transfer coating  120  allows ink layer  130  to be deposited on either paper or plastic film substrates by providing a treated surface that helps with ink integrity and ink adhesion. Transfer coating  120  does not permanently bond to base layer  110 , and allows ink layer  130  to be transferred to adhesive layer  140 . The transfer coating may be comprised of a non-stick silicone release coating applied to base layer  110 , with an overlaying transfer film on top of the silicone layer. The overlaying transfer film is the surface that ink layer  130  is deposited on and may be composed of gelatin or other polymeric materials such as polyvinyl alcohol or polyvinyl pyrollidone. These materials are designed to be strong enough to adhere to the backing paper during printing yet flexible enough to be easily released during application. 
         [0015]    The ink layer  130  is deposited on transfer coating  120  Ink layer  130  may comprise, for example and without limitation, artwork, a design, a picture, a symbol, text, a message, a logo, etc. . . . Ink layer  130  may be made up of multiple layers of different colors of ink to produce an image with multiple colors. Ink layer  130  may be comprised of, but is not limited to, flexography ink (either water based or solvent based), silk screen ink, offset ink or gravure ink 
         [0016]    Adhesive layer  140  is deposited on the ink layer  130 . Adhesive layer  140  may be a pressure sensitive adhesive, such as for example, an aqueous flexographic pressure sensitive adhesive. Acrylic and polyurethane compositions may also be used. The particular adhesive composition may be varied for particular material surfaces that it is contemplated the tattoo may be applied to. For example, there could be a particular formulation of adhesive that is best suited to bonding with plastics, another for leather, and perhaps another for cloth. 
         [0017]    Top layer  150  is releasably applied to the adhesive layer  140 . Top layer  150  may preferably be a silicone coated substrate, where the substrate may be a plastic film or paper. In this way top layer  150  is removable from adhesive layer  140 . 
         [0018]    The dry transfer tattoo  100  may be easily used to manually apply the image printed on it to a non-washable article of manufacture.  FIG. 2  is a flowchart of a method of applying a dry transfer tattoo made. 
         [0019]    The first step of  FIG. 2  is to remove top layer  150  of tattoo  100 . This exposes adhesive layer  140 . The next step is to locate tattoo  100  over a position on the surface of the article of apparel, shoes, or accessories (hereinafter the “article”) where the tattoo image is desired to be placed. Tattoo  100  is then placed on the surface of the article with adhesive  140  on the article surface. The surface of the article where the tattoo is placed should be clean and dry. The next step is to apply pressure to tattoo  100 . The application of pressure may be done manually with a hand or finger. Alternatively it may be done with the aid of a tool (e.g. a blunt end of stylus, pen, etc. . . . ). Pressure may preferably be applied continuously and uniformly across the tattoo surface, although a rubbing motion against the tattoo surface may also be used in appropriate circumstances. In a preferred embodiment of the method pressure is maintained on tattoo  100  for at least 1 minute. The application of pressure causes pressure sensitive adhesive to bond with the article surface, and also ink layer  130 . In the next step the user manually removes base layer  110  by peeling it away from the article surface. Transfer coating  120  allows base layer  110  to be separated from adhesive layer  140  and ink layer  130  which is now bonded to adhesive layer  140 , and is thereby bonded to the article surface. 
         [0020]    In some embodiments transfer coating  140  may also adhere to adhesive layer  140  and remain on the article surface overlaying ink layer  130 . In other embodiments transfer coating  140  may remain bonded to base layer  110  and separate from ink layer  130  and adhesive layer  140 . 
         [0021]    The use of a dry transfer tattoo is well suited for application to a wide variety of articles of apparel, shoes, and accessories. Waterslide tattoos may also be used to apply images, designs, artwork, or text to articles that can be wetted with water and not be damaged. A general configuration of a waterslide tattoo  200  is shown in  FIG. 3 . As with tattoo  100 , the material composition of layers  210 ,  220 , and  230  as well as the cumulative thickness  260  of tattoo  200  should be such that tattoo  200  with top layer  250  removed is thin and flexible enough so that it may be readily bent and be applied with full surface contact of ink layer  230  across a curved or contoured surface of the article that the ink image is intended to be applied to (e.g. the heel of a waterproof shoe). 
         [0022]    The method of applying a waterslide tattoo  200  is illustrated in  FIG. 4 . The first step is to remove top layer  250  of tattoo  200 . This exposes ink layer  230 . The next step is to locate tattoo  200  over a position on the surface of the article of apparel, shoes, or accessories (“article”) where the tattoo image is desired to be placed. Tattoo  200  is then placed on the surface of the article with ink layer  230  on the article surface. The surface of the article where the tattoo is placed should be clean and dry. The next step is to apply water to the outward facing surface of base layer  210  while firmly pressing tattoo  200  on the article surface. The application of water and pressure may be done manually, for example, with a wet sponge. Pressure may preferably be applied continuously and uniformly across the tattoo surface, although a rubbing motion against the tattoo surface may also be used in appropriate circumstances. Once tattoo  200  is thoroughly soaked with water the pressure should be maintained across tattoo  200  for preferably 2-3 minutes. The application of water and pressure causes waterslide material  220  to release from base layer  210  and adhere to the article surface, transferring ink layer  230  to the article surface. In the next step the user manually removes base layer  210  by peeling or sliding it away from the article surface, leaving ink layer  230  and waterslide material  220  on the article surface. After at least several minutes the water will evaporate from the article surface leaving behind the image of ink layer  230  and dried waterslide material  220 .

Technology Classification (CPC): 2