Abstract:
A garment and method for rolling up a cuff of a cloth are disclosed. In one embodiment, a garment and method may be directed to a cylindrical shaped expansile fabric having a top edge, bottom edge, and apertures designed to wrap a cuff of a cloth, including a pant leg hem, shorts leg hem, sleeve cuff, and turtle neck, and to fold up the cuff together with the expansile fabric applied over the cuff. By the elasticity of the expansile fabric, the cuff continues to be held in a rolled-up manner but as a temporary measure so that the length of the pant leg, shorts leg, sleeve, and turtle neck can be maintained at a desired length for a wearer of the cloth and adjustable easily. In some embodiments, the expansile fabric is rolled-down to release the cuff wrapped inside without leaving any additional attachment.

Description:
CROSS REFERENCES TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
       [0001]    The present application claims priority and benefit from the U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 62/306,540, filed Mar. 10, 2016 and titled, “GARMENT HAVING EXPANSILE CHARACTERISTICS”. The entire content of the provisional application is herein expressly incorporated by reference. 
     
    
     BACKGROUND 
       [0002]    Mass-produced clothing is often manufactured based on standards for an average-sized male or female. However, such mass-produced clothing may not often be designed to accommodate different body shapes and body features of the purchasers, such as short or long legs, wide or narrow waist, short or long arms, short or long neck, and so on. For example, an overall length of a shirt may fit a purchaser but the length of the sleeves of the shirt may not fit perfectly. Similarly, a waist of a pair of pants may fit a purchaser well, but the length of the pants may be too long. Some manufacturers provide a variety of lengths for jeans and trousers; however, it is difficult to accommodate all different body features. Further, there is often no option available for sleeve lengths or turtle neck lengths unless the clothing is tailored. 
         [0003]    For larger size clothing, alteration or tailoring provides a solution to shorten sleeves and pant lengths. However, alteration is, generally, costly and once the alteration is made to the clothing, such alteration is commonly irreversible and does not provide for flexibility of sleeve or pant length. For children, many parents buy larger size clothes with the expectation a child growing into such larger clothing. Thus, even though sleeves and pant legs do not fit a child, alteration are not to be made to the clothes, and instead, the sleeves and pants need to be rolled up by hand. However, hand roll-ups do not secure the pants and sleeves at the desired length as the child moves. Specifically for pant legs, longer pants may cause injury to the child if the child steps on the rolled-up hem of the pant legs that have unrolled. Even for adults, such rolled-up pant legs may cause tripping with the extra fabric bunched up at the end of the pant legs and are typically awkward. Pant legs and shirt sleeves for adult clothes similarly may need to be adjusted for regular daily activities, including walking, running, and biking. Further, pant legs may need to be off the ground in case of rain or different heel height of shoes, especially for women. 
         [0004]    On the other hand, for a shorter size clothing, there is no easy and secure way to add a length to clothing, including pants, shorts, sleeves of shirts, and turtle neck, except alteration to the clothes. 
         [0005]    Some removable pant clips for retaining a pant cuff are disclosed in U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2007/0245460 and U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2008/0104742. In these references, a pair of removable pant clips contain magnetic bodies such that the magnetic clips are applied over the hand rolled up pant cuffs to retain the pant cuffs. However, the magnetic bodies are not capable of securing the cuffs during strenuous exercises or sudden movements. Further, attaching clips over the pant cuffs is not aesthetically attractive. 
         [0006]    Pant cuff protectors disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,829,847 provide a means of holding pant cuffs. In this reference, the cuff protectors consist of fabric strips with two magnets distantly located so the fabric strip is attached to the heel of a shoe. With the cuff protectors, the back-side of the pant clears the ground by pulling the back-side of the pant using the half-folded fabric strips affixed with magnets. This type of pant cuff protector requires additional steps to attach the fabric strips to the shoe and further cannot accommodate different shoe types. Further, the cuff protector does not hold rolled-up cuffs of the front-side of pants from sagging or unrolling. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0007]    Aspects and many of the attendant advantages of the claims will become more readily appreciated as the same become better understood by reference to the following detailed description, when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, wherein: 
           [0008]      FIG. 1  is a plane top view of expansile roll-up cuffs according to an embodiment of the subject matter disclosed herein; 
           [0009]      FIG. 2  is a view of the expansile roll-up cuffs of  FIG. 1  applied over a wearer&#39;s leg according to an embodiment of the subject matter disclosed herein; 
           [0010]      FIG. 3  is a view of the expansile roll-up cuffs of  FIG. 1  applied over a wearer&#39;s leg and a pant leg pulled down over the roll-up cuffs according to an embodiment of the subject matter disclosed herein; 
           [0011]      FIG. 4  is a view of the expansile roll-up cuffs of  FIG. 1  folded up onto the pant leg to make a single roll-up according to an embodiment of the subject matter disclosed herein; and 
           [0012]      FIG. 5  is a view of the expansile roll-up cuffs of  FIG. 1  further folded up onto the pant leg to make a double roll-up according to an embodiment of the subject matter disclosed herein. 
       
    
    
       [0013]    Note that the same numbers are used throughout the disclosure and figures to reference like components and features. 
       DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
       [0014]    The subject matter of embodiments disclosed herein is described here with specificity to meet statutory requirements, but this description is not necessarily intended to limit the scope of the claims. The claimed subject matter may be embodied in other ways, may include different elements or steps, and may be used in conjunction with other existing or future technologies. This description should not be interpreted as implying any particular order or arrangement among or between various steps or elements except when the order of individual steps or arrangement of elements is explicitly described. 
         [0015]    Embodiments will be described more fully hereinafter with reference to the accompanying drawings, which form a part hereof, and which show, by way of illustration, exemplary embodiments by which the systems and methods described herein may be practiced. The expansile roll-up cuffs may, however, be embodied in many different forms and should not be construed as limited to the embodiments set forth herein; rather, these embodiments are provided so that this disclosure will satisfy the statutory requirements and convey the scope of the subject matter to those skilled in the art. 
         [0016]    By way of overview, the subject matter disclosed herein may be directed to expansile roll-up cuffs. Length of sleeves and pant legs may be securely adjusted to fit with each individual by applying expansile roll-up cuffs on a leg of the individual and rolling a pant leg up with the expansile roll-up cuffs. Roll-up cuffs may be easily applicable to individuals and easily roll up the pant leg without any additional attachment. Elasticity of the roll-up cuffs may secure the pant leg during movements and strenuous exercises. These and other advantages will become more apparent in the detailed descriptions below with respect to  FIGS. 1-5 . 
         [0017]      FIG. 1  is a top plane view of expansile roll-up cuffs  10 . Materials of cuffs  10  are generally flexible fabric and may include any synthetic fabric, such as polyester, acrylic, nylon, rayon, acetate, spandex, lastex, and Kevlar™, any natural fabric, such as cotton or wool, and any combination thereof. In one embodiment, the material of the cuffs  10  may include permeable fabrics for breathability and waterproof fabrics for rain uses. The cuffs  10  are usually a pair for each leg or sleeve. Each cuff  10  is made of a piece of flexible fabric and shaped as a rectangle in this embodiment. The rectangle shaped fabric(s) includes four edges which are referred to as top edge  11 , bottom edge  12 , right edge (not shown), and left edge (not shown). In this embodiment, the length/width of the top edge  11  is equal to the length/width of the bottom edge  12 . In another embodiment, the piece of flexible fabric may be shaped as a trapezoid and the top edge  11  is wider than the bottom edge  12  to accommodate wider calves. Each right edge and left edge of the fabric is the same length and may be sewed together so that the rectangle shaped fabric makes a cylindrical tube with two edges, top edge  11  and bottom edge  12 . In another embodiment, the right edge  11  and the left edge  12  can be attached by thread, glue, sealing, or any adhesive material to create one seam. When the right edge and left edge are attached, a seam (not shown) is formed. In a further embodiment, the cylindrical tube can be created without a seam as one piece. In still a further embodiment, the cuff  10  may be made of two different pieces of fabric shaped as rectangle attached together with two seams. The two pieces of fabric may have a different color, pattern, or even different material. When the cuff  10  is made from one piece of fabric, a wearer should wear the cuff  10  as the seam appears at the ankle side. When the cuff  10  is made of two different pieces of fabric, a wearer should wear the cuff  10  as the two seams appear at the right and left sides of a leg. For the cylindrical tube, between the top edge  11  and bottom edge  12 , a hollow space is created characterized by a first aperture adjacent to the top edge  11  and a second aperture adjacent to the bottom edge  12 . An overall size of the fabric may vary to accommodate various sizes and for men, women, and children. The fabric consists of two sides, front-side  13 ,  14  and back-side  15 ,  16 . In one embodiment, the front-side  13 ,  14  may have patterns and colors. In a further embodiment, a reflective strip  17  may be applied vertically, horizontally, or randomly on the front-side  13 ,  14  and back-side  15 ,  16  of the lower portion of the cuff  10  so that when the cuff  10  is rolled-up, the cuff  10  shows the reflective strip  17  for safety measures. In a still further embodiment, the reflective strip  17  may be applied vertically on the cuff  10  so that when the cuff  10  is rolled at any length, the reflective strip  17  is still shown. In a still further embodiment, the back-side  15 ,  16  may have patterns and colors. In a still further embodiment, the front-side  13 ,  14  and the back-side  15 ,  16  may have the same or different patterns and colors. 
         [0018]      FIG. 2  is a view of the expansile roll-up cuffs  10  of  FIG. 1  applied over a leg  21  of a wearer. To wear the cuffs  10 , first, a wearer pulls up the hem of a pant leg  20  and sticks a foot  22  into the top edge  11  of the cuff  10  and out from the bottom edge  12  of the cuff  10 . In one embodiment, when the top edge  11  and bottom edge  12  have a different length, the bottom edge  12  is designed to be a longer edge of the cylindrical tube of the cuff  10  so that the bottom edge  12  of the cuff  10  can fit without tightening the instep of the foot  22 . A length  23  of the cuff  10  is predetermined based on the length of the top edge  11  and bottom edge  12 . When the cuff  10  is applied over the leg  21 , a back-side  16  of the cuff  10  is shown. This embodiment describes application of the cuff  10  to a pant leg  20  as an example; however, the cuff  10  can be also applied to a cuff of a sleeve (not shown), a hem on shorts, or neck opening portion of a cloth with a turtle neck (not shown) to shorten the sleeve or turtle neck. 
         [0019]      FIG. 3  is a view of the expansile cuffs  10  of  FIG. 1  applied over the leg  21  of the wearer and a pant leg  20  pulled down over the cuffs  10 . A wearer may adjust the bottom edge  12  of the cuff  10  to an appropriate location of the instep of the wearer. Typically, to roll up the pant leg  20 , the bottom edge  12  of the cuff  10  may come through a couple of inches from the hem  30  of the pant leg  20  so that the cuff  10  may be properly hemmed up over the pant leg  20 . Further, a length  32  between where the hem  30  of the pant leg  20  touches the cuff  10  and the bottom edge  12  of the cuff  10  becomes a length of the cuff when rolled over the pant leg  20 . In one embodiment, the wearer may adjust the bottom edge  12  of the cuff  10  locating closer to toes to create a wider hem. In another embodiment, the wearer may adjust the bottom edge  12  closer to the hem  30  of the pant leg  20  to create a narrow hem. 
         [0020]      FIG. 4  is a view of the expansile roll-up cuffs  10  of  FIG. 1  folded up onto the pant leg  20  to make a single roll-up cuff  40 . Thus, the bottom edge  12  of the cuff  10  becomes the top portion of the single roll-up cuff  40 . The single roll-up cuff  40  creates a pocket (not shown) between the single roll-up cuff  40  and the hem  30  of the pant leg  20 , so that the single roll-up cuff  40  surrounds the hem  30  (not shown) of the pant leg  20  and the front-side  14  of the cuff  10  is shown. 
         [0021]      FIG. 5  is a view of the expansile roll-up cuffs  10  of  FIG. 1  further folded up onto the pant leg  20  to make a double roll-up cuff  50 . By rolling the cuff  10  further onto the pant leg  20 , the hem  30  (not shown) of the pant leg  20  is folded up further inside of the cuff  10 . With the elasticity of the cuff  10 , the hem  30  of the pant leg  20  maintains the double roll-up of the cuff  50 . A bottom edge  51  of the double roll-up cuff  50  becomes an end of the pant leg  20  where the wearer desires the length of the pant leg  20  to be. While the cuff  10 ,  40 ,  50  steadily maintains the hem  30  (not shown) of the pant leg  20  inside, the cuff  10 ,  40 ,  50  is simply attached to the pant leg  20  to temporarily hold up the pant leg  20  at the desired leg. When the cuff  10 ,  40 ,  50  rolls down, the cuff  10 ,  40 ,  50  can release the hem  30  of the pant leg  20  as described in  FIG. 3  without leaving any attachment on the pant leg  20 . Such easy reversible application of the cuff  10 ,  40 ,  50  is preferable for women who wear different height of heeled shoes (not shown). 
         [0022]    All references, including publications, patent applications, and patents, cited herein are hereby incorporated by reference to the same extent as if each reference were individually and specifically indicated to be incorporated by reference and/or were set forth in its entirety herein. 
         [0023]    The use of the terms “a” and “an” and “the” and similar referents in the specification and in the following claims are to be construed to cover both the singular and the plural, unless otherwise indicated herein or clearly contradicted by context. The terms “having,” “including,” “containing” and similar referents in the specification and in the following claims are to be construed as open-ended terms (e.g., meaning “including, but not limited to,”) unless otherwise noted. Recitation of ranges of values herein are merely intended to serve as a shorthand method of referring individually to each separate value inclusively falling within the range, unless otherwise indicated herein, and each separate value is incorporated into the specification as if it were individually recited herein. All methods described herein can be performed in any suitable order unless otherwise indicated herein or clearly contradicted by context. The use of any and all examples, or exemplary language (e.g., “such as”) provided herein, is intended merely to better illuminate embodiments and does not pose a limitation to the scope of the disclosure unless otherwise claimed. No language in the specification should be construed as indicating any non-claimed element as essential to each embodiment of the present disclosure. 
         [0024]    Different arrangements of the components depicted in the drawings or described above, as well as components and steps not shown or described are possible. Similarly, some features and sub-combinations are useful and may be employed without reference to other features and sub-combinations. Embodiments have been described for illustrative and not restrictive purposes, and alternative embodiments will become apparent to readers of this patent. Accordingly, the present subject matter is not limited to the embodiments described above or depicted in the drawings, and various embodiments and modifications can be made without departing from the scope of the claims below.