Background of the Invention In the field of retail apparel, there exist numerous sizing devices to assist customers in determining an appropriate apparel item size, i. e., a size that"fits". For example, most shoe stores carry shoe sizing devices which measure the length and width of a person's foot in terms of standard shoe sizes. Another example of an apparel sizing device is measuring tape carried by most higher end clothing retailers for measuring limb lengths, torso sizes, etc.

Such devices are helpful to customers in selecting an appropriate size. Nonetheless, most retail store apparel customers choose to"try on"apparel items before purchase, to ensure a proper fit.

Mail order catalogs have become an increasingly popular way to sell apparel. For customers who are busy and for those who do not enjoy the retail store shopping experience, ordering apparel items from a catalog is preferable. It, for example, offers easy shopping, i. e., from the comfort of one's own home. Most apparel retailers which sell through catalogs offer a wide selection of items, colors, sizes, etc., typically provide decent customer service by telephone, and offer fair return and exchange policies.

Another form of shopping that enables customers to purchase items from their homes includes that done through television. This form of shopping has shown a tremendous increase in popularity over the past few years. Like mail order services, retailers which sell through television typically provide decent customer service and offer fair return and exchange policies.

A further form of apparel shopping that does not require customers to visit retail stores is that done through electronic commerce, i. e., over the Internet. While still in its relative infancy, apparel shopping through electronic commerce is growing in popularity. As Internet use continues to grow at an exponential rate, it is expected that retail apparel shopping through electronic commerce will grow to a multi-billion dollar business in a few years.

With all forms of remote apparel shopping, i. e., through mail order catalogs, television, and electronic commerce, to date there exist no apparel sizing devices for adequately assisting customers in determining appropriate apparel sizes. Such devices are particularly important with these forms of remote apparel sales as customers do not have the opportunity to try on items before purchasing them.

It therefore is an object of the present invention to provide apparel sizing devices to enable remote apparel customers to determine their sizes.

Summary of the Invention One embodiment of the present invention is directed to an apparel sizing template printed on a substrate sheet comprising physical boundaries for comparison to a person's body such that a person may determine an appropriate apparel size.

Another embodiment of the invention is directed to an apparel sizing template stored on a computer-readable medium which, when printed on a substrate sheet, comprises physical boundaries for comparison to a person's body such that a person may determine an appropriate apparel size.

Another embodiment of the invention is directed to an apparel sizing template stored in electronic form on a computer system memory which, when printed in a substrate sheet, comprises physical boundaries for comparison to the person's body such that a person may determine an appropriate apparel size.

Another embodiment of the invention is directed to a method for providing an apparel sizing template comprising the step of storing in electronic form on a computer system an apparel sizing template such that the computer system may be accessed by customers for downloading the apparel sizing template. This may include storing the template on an Internet web site page. The template may be downloaded when the site is accessed.

Another embodiment of the present invention is directed to a process for providing an apparel sizing template comprising the steps of : monitoring received requests from customers for a customer request for an apparel sizing template; and upon determining receipt of a customer request for an apparel sizing template, providing the apparel sizing template to the customer.

A further embodiment of the present invention is directed to a computer-readable medium on which is stored a computer program that, when implemented by a computer, performs the steps of : monitoring customer input for receipt of a request for an apparel sizing template; and upon determining receipt of a customer request for an apparel sizing template, transferring the apparel template in electronic form to the customer.

An even further embodiment of the present invention is directed to a computer system for providing an apparel sizing template comprising: an input that receives information relating to the apparel sizing template; a processor that implements steps to create in electronic form the apparel sizing template from the information; and a memory that stores the apparel sizing template in electronic form.

An even further embodiment of the present invention is directed to a computer system method for providing an apparel sizing template comprising the steps of : creating in electronic form an apparel sizing template; storing in electronic form in a memory of the computer system the apparel sizing template; and in response to a request for the template, transferring the template in electronic form to a requester.

The features and advantages of the present invention will be more readily understood and apparent from the following detailed description of the invention, which should be read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings and from the claims which are appended to the end of the detailed description.

Brief Description of the Drawings Fig. 1 is a diagram illustrating an exemplary glove sizing template.

Fig. 2 is a diagram illustrating an exemplary shoe sizing template.

Fig. 3 is a diagram illustrating an exemplary measuring tape sizing template.

Fig. 4 is a block diagram of a system according to one embodiment of the invention.

Fig. 5 is a block diagram of a system according to another embodiment of the invention.

Fig. 6 is a flow diagram of a process according to one embodiment of the invention.

Fig. 7 is a flow diagram of steps of a computer program according to another embodiment of the invention.

Fig. 8 is a flow diagram of the steps of a computer system method according to another embodiment of the invention.

Fig. 9 is a flow diagram of a method of creating an apparel sizing template according to an embodiment of the invention.

Fig. 10 is a block diagram of a computer system according to an embodiment of the invention.

Fig. 11 is a block diagram of a computer system connected to an external scanning device according to an embodiment of the invention.

Detailed Description The present invention relates to an apparel sizing template. The template may be in printed form on a substrate or in electronic form in the memory of a computer, on a computer-readable medium, or transferrable over a communications channel. The electronic form of the apparel sizing template may be printed on a substrate sheet. When printed, the template may be used by an apparel customer to compare the template to a part of his or her body to determine an appropriate apparel size for purchase.

One embodiment of the invention is a method for providing an apparel sizing template that includes storing in electronic form on a computer system the apparel sizing template such that the computer system may be accessed by customers for downloading the apparel sizing template. This may take the form of providing the apparel sizing template on a page of an Internet web site of a provider, which provider may be the apparel retailer selling apparel through electronic commerce.

The apparel sizing template may take on many forms and the invention is not limited to any particular form. Three exemplary templates are shown as they would appear on printed form on a substrate sheet in Figs. 1-3. The templates shown are exemplary and may not be drawn to scale. Numerous other forms of sizing templates are envisioned.

A first exemplary form of an apparel sizing template is that used to select a glove size.

Such an apparel sizing template 10 used to select glove size is shown in printed form in Fig.

1.

As shown, the template is in the shape of one's hand. Only the right hand is shown in the template of Fig. 1. It should be appreciated that another template could be used for the

left hand. As shown, the template includes five different sizes labelled sizes G1-G5, each representing a different glove size. When in printed form on a substrate sheet, a customer interested in purchasing a glove would rest his or her hand against the sheet on the template, to determine the glove size which best fits him or her.

Another exemplary template 13 form is that used for selecting a shoe size, as shown in printed form in Fig. 2. As shown, the shoe template is shown in the form of a sole of a shoe and includes different widths and lengths for different shoe sizes and widths. Shoe sizes 7-12 and widths A-E are drawn for a right shoe. It should be appreciated that a left shoe template also may be provided and different sizes also may be provided. As with the glove template, when in printed form on a substrate sheet, a person would rest his or her foot against the shoe sizing template to determine an appropriate show size.

Another exemplary form of an apparel sizing template 15 includes a measuring tape having a number of discrete measurement points as shown in Fig. 3. This template may be used to measure limb lengths, torso sizes, etc. It may include standard lengths and/or particular sizes for lines of clothing.

One embodiment of the invention is directed to a system for providing an apparel sizing template. This system, shown broadly in Fig. 4, includes a provider 20, a communications channel 22, and a customer 24. Customer 24 and provider 20 communicate over communications channel 22. Communications channel 22 represents any channel through which the template may be provided to the customer such as the mail, telephone lines, computer lines, or other. Provider 20 would provide the apparel sizing template over the communications channel 22 to customer 24 or customer 34 would access the template over communications channel 32 from provider 30.

The apparel sizing template may be provided in printed form, transmitted in electronic form, or provided on a computer-readable medium. When in printed form, the template may be mailed such as part of an apparel sales catalog. Alternatively, the template may be transmitted by facsimile. Alternatively, the template may be communicated from a computer system at the provider side to a computer system at the customer side. This may accomplished by storing the template at a page of an Internet web site of the provider such that when the customer accesses the web site by typing in the appropriate URL address, the template may be accessed, downloaded, printed, etc.

Fig. 5 illustrates one embodiment of the system shown in Fig. 4. As shown in Fig. 5, the system includes a provider computer system 40, a communications channel 32, and a number of customer computers 44A, 44B, 44C... Each of the customer computer systems 44N communicates with the provider computer system 40 over communications channel 42.

Provider computer system 40 includes a communications port 46 to enable this communication. In the system shown in Fig. 5, the provider computer system 40 may provide a web site that can be accessed over the communications channel by any of the customers computer systems. That web site may include on a particular page thereof the apparel sizing template.

Alternatively, any of the customers'computers may be able to access the apparel sizing template in electronic form in the memory of the provider computer 40 over the communications channel 32. In this embodiment, the computer system may be a local area network, have terminals linked through an Intranet system, or simply provide a platform through which remote computers can access the system on which the template is stored.

Another alternative includes that any of the customers may issue a request over the communications channel to the provider computer 44 for the apparel sizing template. In response to such a request, the provider computer may provide the apparel sizing template in electronic form over the communications channel.

One embodiment of the invention is directed to a process for providing an apparel sizing template. It includes the steps shown in the flow diagram of Fig. 6. As shown, the process starts at step 50 where received requests from customers are monitored for a customer request for an apparel sizing template. The requests may come in the form of phone calls, written requests, requests in electronic form, and other. In electronic form, the requests simply may be a user typing in a URL address of an Internet web site of a provider.

Then, at step 52, upon determining receipt of a customer request for an apparel sizing template, the provider provides the apparel sizing template to the customer. The step of providing may include providing the apparel sizing template in any form and by any means, now-known or later-developed. For example, as previously stated, the apparel sizing template may be provided in printed form or in electronic form, and may be mailed, transmitted over a communications channel, or simply accessed by a customer through, for example, an Internet web site of the provider.

A more specific embodiment of the invention is directed to a computer program that, when implemented by a computer, performs the steps shown in the flow diagram of Fig. 7.

As shown, the program begins at step 54 where the computer monitors user input for receipt of a request for an apparel sizing template. This may take the form of an electronic request, an e-mail request, the user typing in a URL address of the web site of the provider, or other.

The process continues at step 56 wherein, upon determining receipt of a user input request for the apparel sizing template, transferring in electronic form the apparel sizing template to the user. Again, this step of transferring may be carried out in many different ways and the form of the apparel sizing template also may be different. For example, the template may be stored on a computer-readable medium and mailed to the user/customer.

The computer-readable medium may be a disk, tape, compact disk read-only memory (CDROM) or any other now-known or later-developed computer-readable medium storage device. Alternatively, the template may be stored as an attachment to an e-mail sent to the user/customer. Alternatively, the template simply may be downloaded and/or printed by the user/customer from the appropriate page of an Internet web site of the provider.

In one embodiment, the provider may include multiple different apparel sizing templates of different types. In addition, the apparel sizing template may come in different size ranges. Thus, the user input request may include the type and size range of the apparel sizing template.

The provider thus would have to determine the type and size range of the apparel sizing template requested by the customer and recall the appropriate apparel sizing template to provide to the customer.

Another embodiment of the invention is directed to a computer system method to provide an apparel sizing template. Fig. 8 is a flow diagram illustrating the broad steps of such a method. As shown in Fig. 8, the computer system method for providing an apparel sizing template starts at step 60 in which an apparel sizing template is created in electronic form. The method then moves to step 62 where it stores an electronic form in a memory of the computer system the apparel sizing template. Then, at step 64, in response to a request for the template, it transfers the template in electronic form to a requester. As described, the step of transferring may take many forms.

The step of creating in electronic form an apparel sizing template may include scanning the apparel sizing template from the substrate sheet.

Alternatively, the method of creating an apparel sizing template may include those steps shown in the flow diagram of Fig. 9. As shown, the method of creating an apparel sizing template includes, at step 70, the steps of receiving input information regarding a type of apparel sizing template to create and parameters regarding the physical size limits and boundaries of the template. For a shoe sizing template, such as that shown in Fig. 2, the information would include that the type of apparel sizing template is a shoe sizing template and the parameters would include the length size limits and width size limits for each of the different sizes included.

The method continues at step 72 in which the type and parameters input during step 70 are used to draw an outline of the apparel sizing template. This method may employ standard drafting software. Any form of an apparel sizing template may be created and flexibility in creation is envisioned. One template, for example, may be tailored for a particular clothing line, or a particular industry, or a particular customer group, etc.

Another embodiment of the invention is directed to a computer system that provides an apparel sizing template. Fig. 10 is a block diagram showing one form of the computer system. As shown, a computer system 80 includes an input 82, processor 84, and a memory 86, interconnected by a bus system. Computer system 80 may be any standard computer system such as a personal computer system.

In one embodiment of the invention, input 82 receives information relating to the apparel sizing template. Processor 84 then implements steps to create an electronic form the apparel sizing template from the information received. Memory 86 stores the apparel sizing template in electronic form.

In one embodiment, such as that shown in Fig. 11, computer system 80 is connected to a scanner device 88 such that scanning device 88 may scan a printed form of an apparel sizing template and be inputted into computer system 80.

It should be understood that the invention contemplates providing a copy of the originally created template, whether in electronic form or other, and whether accessed or downloaded by a customer or provided by a provider.

Having thus described at least one illustrative embodiment of the invention, various alterations, modifications and improvements will readily occur to those skilled in the art.

Such alterations, modifications and improvements are intended to be within the spirit and scope of the invention. Accordingly, the foregoing description is by way of example only and is not intended as limiting. The invention is limited only as defined in the following claims and the equivalents thereto.

What is claimed is: