Learn, play and develop fine motor skill using interchangeable fine motor activity applique on the garment

2. APPLICANTS a. Name: GULECHHA KOMAL LOKESH.

Nationality: INDIA

Address: 8, MAHAVIR MARKET, PHALTAN GALLI,

SOLAPUR-413002, MAHARASHTRA, INDIA b. Name: GULECHHA LOKESH N.

Nationality: INDIA

Address: 8, MAHAVIR MARKET, PHALTAN GALLI,

SOLAPUR-413002, MAHARASHTRA, INDIA

3. PREAMBLE TO THE DESCRIPTION

Complete specification:

The following specification particularly describes the invention and the manner in which it is to be performed. 4. DESCRIPTION

Background of the Invention: Field of the Invention:

[0001] The present invention relates generally to the fine motor skill development using the customizable garment such as t-shirt, pants, hats, etc. with attachable and interchangeable fine motor activity applique with one or more aspects of the skill.

Description of the Related Art:

[0002] Fine motor skill is the development of small muscles which control the hand, wrist, fingers and thumb with the synchronization of eyes and brain. Fine motor skills are required to develop self-care skills (e.g. clothing fastening, opening lunch box, cleaning teeth, using cutlery) and academic skills (e.g. pencil skills of drawing, writing and coloring, as well as cutting and pasting). Difficulties in developing these skills can impact the development of gross motor skill which involves the larger muscles of the body that enables functions like walking, lifting, throwing ball and many others. These in turn can affect the academic, cognitive, emotional and social development of the individual. Helping individual to develop the best fine motor skill possibly at an early age aids to set the stage for success in their surroundings and contributes a feeling of good about themselves which promotes self-esteem and individual's interest in overall learning.

[0003] Exposure to these skills can be found in various educational tools such as electronic devices, books, toys, mats, etc. These available products in the market suffer from one or more of the following

disadvantages: - limited educational significance, lack of developmental appropriateness and longevity. This makes learning monotonous and individual loses interest which impacts their overall development. In case of different activity need to purchase another educational tool, which puts extra burden on pocket and occupy storage area. Also, fine motor activities which are electronic device based need to use in a desk fashion instead of play object and also affect their physical well-being.

[0004] Children are more curious and expressive to talk about their achievements if they are provided with the suitable platform. Available products in market makes them expressive within the walls of coziness and comfortability which might impact their socialization, collaboration and openness skill development in the competitive world.

[0005] Prior patents have disclosed invention related to fine motor skill activities and garments like t-shirt, pants, hats, etc. having attachable components. Nonetheless, these past patents do not comprise both and individually have several shortcomings: -

• In U.S. Pat. No. US 20080113323 A1 (Janice Sweet McElhoe), the Learning/Play Quilt or Denim/Learning Play Quilt is a

compilation of components of children's clothing sewn together to facilitate development or practice of fine motor skills (dexterity) such as zipping, buttoning, lacing, tying, snapping, hooking, use of velcro, and buckling and US Pat. No. 20120020586 A1 (Jenny Gilbert), the travel mat comprises a fabric panel of an appropriate size to be received on an airplane tray table or on a travel tray intended for use in an automobile. The main drawback of these inventions is the restriction on the design and number of activities which are not replaceable and makes learning monotonous. In case of different activities need to purchase another piece which puts burden on pocket. Also, too many activities at one place make it difficult to concentrate on one thing which impacts the attention span and lose interest in learning. Inventions do not provide the other utilitarian aspects of expressing the style by wearing the same as one cannot carry the quilt or mat everytime they are out. • In US Pat. No. 7765618 B2 (Colin Egglesfield), there is disclosed a garment with detachable and re-arrangeable display items comprises four layers (wearable fabric, tricot, foam, loop material) and additional two layers: -the front portion which is visible (printed) and the back portion which is attached to fourth layer of the shirt. This arrangement increases the thickness of the area and makes it rigid structure. The primary problem with this patent is that it does not provide to be more flexible and creative because of the restricted pattern to work on. Also without the detachable pattern, the garment would be seen as hazy, purposeless, strip across its shape and position. The aspect of fine motor skill using hook and loop is coincidental and the invention not specifically designed to facilitate towards learning fine motor skill.

• In US Pat. No. 20080113323 A1 (Robert Falken), disclose hat having a removable faux front crown panel containing pocket(s) for securely storing items such as money, keys, mp3 players, credit cards, lighters, pen and paper, and the like. The invention not specifically designed to facilitate towards learning fine motor skill.

• In US Pat. No. 20100058510 A1 (Pooja Vithlani) and US Pat. No.

20040068778 A1 (Saundra Van Veghel, Shannon Lelouch, Kimberly Beegle, Megan Isaacson, Andi Butler), discloses invention relates generally to the field of garments having a changeable appearance using a fixed base design and attachable components for completing and modifying the base design. The fine motor skill of attachment mechanisms, such as velcro or buttons used in the invention is coincidental and not specifically designed to facilitate towards learning fine motor skill. Also, the base

design/graphics is not changeable, only the appearance can be changed e.g. a t-shirt with a graphic of a girl on it has velcro on it. Components with velcro can then be applied to the graphic to change the girl's clothes, shoes, hair and accessories, altering the appearance of the girl graphic on the t-shirt.

[0006] As we understand the importance of developing fine motor skill which aids individual with the self-care and academic skill

development which are essential for day-to-day activities, there may be a need for providing a suitable learning aid which support individual's overall development, inexpensive, reusable and easy to move and store which is a challenge and these together are not present in the related art. And also it would be advantageous for an individual to be expressive to the outside world which enhances their development.

Summary of the invention

[0007] The present invention addresses the concerns/issues which have been described above by providing a platform for the individual to explore fine motor skill and be expressive to the outer world by promoting them to learn, play and develop on their own and allowing created activity of fine motor skill to be fastened on the garment which can be used as clothing which offer long term utility beyond learning.

[0008] The present invention offers freedom to select from range of fine motor activities which are easily interchangeable applique. This applique can form one or more aspects of fine motor skill which plays important role in developing self-care and academic skill required for day- to-day activities.

[0009] The present invention allows building solution with hands-on experience which promotes the development and encouraging interest in learning. [0010] The present invention has ability to adjust and adapt to the dynamic experience as individual continue to evolve. They can start with the activity which includes one aspect of fine motor skill and gradually trends towards theme based activity which involves multiple aspects of fine motor skill.

[0011] It is an object of the present invention to provide fine motor activity kit consisting of garment, activity applique and components that will be connected on the activity applique for completeness of the desired output. In this document 'fine motor activity kit' will be referred as 'activity kit'.

[0012] It is further object of the present invention to provide a garment such as t-shirt or pant with a design which has both fixed and variable elements. The garment is not restricted to one mentioned above, it can be any wearable clothing item.

[0013] It is further object of the present invention to provide method for creating an interchangeable fine motor activity appliques with activity point(s) which will be fastened on the garment. In this document 'fine motor activity applique' will be referred as 'activity applique'.

[0014] It is another object of the present invention to provide attaching mechanism which will interconnect garment, applique and components that will be connected on the activity applique. The attaching mechanism can be zip, button, velcro or anything which holds different pieces together.

[0015] The present invention will have the garment such as t-shirt or pant or hat with a graphics on them. This garment will have mechanism to attach the interchangeable fine motor activity applique. Interchangeable activity applique will be built by the individual using the components provided in fine motor activity kit whose physical arrangement drives the desired outcome. Once the activity is completed, the activity applique can be attached on the garment for completeness of the design which will be then ready for further usage. Individual will have freedom and endless option to select from range of different fine motor activity applique that can be placed on the same piece of garment. They simply need to interconnect the components provided in the activity kit and complete the design and attach the same on the garment. Thus, the individual is ready with new array of style. Once they have used the interchangeable applique, they can disassemble the components and keep it back in the case which can be re-used later as required. Thus, it offers individual with flexibility in selecting the activity to explore and style to express.

Brief description of the drawings

[0016] Present invention is explained using example but not restricted in the figures of the accompanying drawings, in which reference numbers are used to refer to the same or similar elements.

[0017] FIG.1 : Front elevation view of the garment without activity applique

[0018] FIG.2: Front elevation view of the activity applique with activity points which will be attached on the garment specified in FIG.1

[0019] FIG.3: Front elevation view of the components required for completing the desired output as required by FIG.2

[0020] FIG.4: Front elevation view of the completed fine motor activity using activity applique specified in FIG.2 and components as per FIG.3

[0021] FIG.5: Front elevation view of desired outcome by attaching completed activity applique as per FIG.4 on garment as per FIG.1 [0022] FIG.6: Front elevation view of another activity applique consisting of multiple aspect of fine motor skill which will be attached on the garment specified in FIG.1

[0023] FIG.7: Front elevation view of the components required for completing the activity as per FIG.6

[0024] FIG.8: Front elevation view of the completed fine motor activity using activity applique specified in FIG.6 and components as per FIG.7

[0025] FIG.9: Front elevation view of desired outcome by attaching completed activity applique as per FIG.8 on garment as per FIG.1

[0026] FIG.10: Front elevation view of another activity applique consisting of fine motor skill development using Tangram puzzle that will be attached on the garment specified in FIG.1

[0027] FIG.1 1 : Back elevation view of the 7 Tangram pieces required for completing the required shape

[0028] FIG.12A: Front elevation view of arranged Tangram puzzle

[0029] FIG.12B: Back elevation view of arranged Tangram puzzle with attaching mechanism

[0030] FIG.13: Front elevation view of the Tangram activity applique as per FIG.12A attached on garment as per FIG.1

Detailed description of the preferred embodiment

[0031] FIG.1 shows garment 100 in the form of t-shirt without activity applique. This garment 100 can be any wearable clothing item like shirt, pant, hat, etc. The garment 100 shown in diagram is front view, but it can form back of the garment 100 also. The garment has a space 500 to position interchangeable activity applique. The garment will be provided by shape 200 which will be of same shape as of interchangeable activity applique. The shape 200 can be different such as triangle, square, circle, star, but not restricted. The garment has the attaching mechanism 300 to connect the garment 100 with activity applique for completeness of the required design. The attaching mechanism 300 can be formed of button, velcro, zip, stud fastener or any fastening material which holds two pieces together.

[0032] FIG.2 shows activity applique 400 with one aspect of fine motor skill development. This activity applique 400 can form any aspect of fine motor skill like zipping, buttoning, lacing, hooking, use of velcro, buckling and many others and offers wide range of activities for skill development. Also, activity applique 400 can be designed using multiple aspects of fine motor skill. FIG.2 shows activity points 3A, 4A, 5A, 6A, 7A and 8A. These activity points will have one side of attaching mechanism 2C1 which in this case is button. The activity point(s) on activity applique can have one side of attaching mechanism such as button, zip, velcro or other fastening material.

[0033] FIG.3 shows the components 3B, 4B, 5B, 6B, 7B and 8B required for completing the desired output as per FIG.2. These

components will have another side of attaching mechanism 2C2 which can be connected with the attaching mechanism 2C1 . In this case, it is buttonhole for all components which will allow button which is attaching mechanism 2C1 to pass through. [0034] FIG.4 shows activity applique 400 completed with the expected output. Activity has been completed by interconnecting activity points (3A, 4A, 5A, 6A, 7A, 8A) and components (3B, 4B, 5B, 6B, 7B, 8B) using attaching mechanism (2C1 , 2C2). FIG.4 shows completed output 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 for each activity point.

[0035] FIG.5 shows final end product view of the desired outcome by attaching completed activity applique 400 as per FIG.4 on garment 100 specified in FIG.1 . The garment 100 is ready for use.

[0036] FIG.6 shows another activity applique 400 consisting of multiple aspects of fine motor skill which will be attached on the garment 100 specified in FIG.1 . FIG.7 shows the components which are required to complete desired output on activity applique 400 as per FIG.6. Activity points 9A, 10A has attaching mechanism 9C1 which is button and are connected using components 9B, 10B having attaching mechanism 9C2 which is buttonhole. Activity points 1 1 A, 12A, 13A, 14A has attaching mechanism 1 1 C1 which is a female stud of snap fasteners and are connected using components 1 1 B, 12B, 13B, 14B having attaching mechanism 1 1 C2 which is a male stud of snap fasteners. Activity points 15A represent all the holes on the activity applique 400 which are connected to each other using the interconnecting part 15B which is lace.

[0037] FIG.8 shows the view of the completed fine motor activity using another activity applique 400 specified in FIG.6 and components as per FIG.7. FIG.8 shows completed output 9, 10, 1 1 , 12, 13, 14, 15 for each activity point.

[0038] FIG.9 shows final end product view of the desired outcome by attaching completed activity applique 400 as per FIG.8 on garment 100 as per FIG.1 . The garment 100 is ready for use.

[0039] FIG.10 shows front elevation view of the activity applique 400 consisting of fine motor skill development using Tangram puzzle which will be attached on the garment 100 specified in FIG.1 . The activity applique 400 has attaching mechanism 16C1 which in this case is hook part of the velcro.

[0040] FIG.1 1 shows back elevation view of the 7 Tangram pieces 1 T, 2T, 3T, 4T, 5T, 6T, 7T. These Tangram pieces have attaching mechanism 16C2 which in this case is loop part of the velcro. Physical arrangement of these pieces can form different patterns including animals, people, numbers, geometric shapes and many more.

[0041] FIG.12A shows front view of one of the arranged Tangram pieces which resulted in pattern of Duck.

[0042] FIG.12B shows back view of arranged Tangram pieces.

[0043] FIG.13 shows final end product view of the completed Tangram activity applique 400 as per FIG.12A attached on garment 100 as per FIG.1 which is ready for further usage as required.

Classification of the preferred embodiment

International Patent Classification (IPC): - A41 D 1/00, A41 D 27/08, A42B 1/24, G09B 1/02, G09B 19/00