Watch band or other strap with tear away safety feature

Abstract

In some embodiments, a watch band or other wearable strap includes at least one tear away region at which the cross-sectional area of the base material is reduced, such that the force required to break away or tear away the wearable band from the body of the wearer is predetermined. In other embodiments, the material utilized to form the tear away region(s) of the wearable strap may alternatively or additionally have a lower ultimate tensile strength than the material utilized to form other portions of the wearable strap, again permitting the force required to break away or tear away the wearable band from the body of the wearer to be predetermined.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A product of manufacture, comprising:
 a wearable strap configured to be worn about a member of a living body, wherein the wearable strap is formed from a base material and has a length about the member along a longest dimension of the wearable strap, two edges, a width orthogonal to the length and extending between the two edges, and a thickness between an inner surface to be worn toward to the body and an outer surface to be worn away from the body; and   a tear away region formed across the width of the wearable strap, wherein the tear away region has a width consistent with adjoining portions of the wearable strap and a lesser thickness than adjoining portions of the wearable strap, such that the tear away region has a lower ultimate tensile strength than the adjoining portions of the wearable strap.   
     
     
         2 . The product of  claim 1 , wherein the wearable strap is formed of silicone. 
     
     
         3 . The product of  claim 1 , wherein the wearable strap is formed of a material from a set consisting of nylon, canvas, and metal. 
     
     
         4 . The product of  claim 1 , wherein the tear away region is formed in the inner surface. 
     
     
         5 . The product of  claim 1 , wherein the tear away region is formed in the outer surface. 
     
     
         6 . The product of  claim 1 , wherein the tear away region has a visually distinctive appearance from adjoining portions of the wearable strap. 
     
     
         7 . The product of  claim 1 , wherein the tear away region is one of multiple tear away regions formed in the wearable strap. 
     
     
         8 . The product of  claim 6 , wherein:
 the wearable strap has multiple through holes; and   the multiple tear away regions are each formed at one of the through holes.   
     
     
         9 . The product of  claim 1 , wherein:
 the wearable strap is a watch band; and   the watch band includes watch case attachments coupled to the watch band.   
     
     
         10 . The product of  claim 8 , and further comprising a watch case coupled to the watch band. 
     
     
         11 . A product of manufacture, comprising:
 a wearable strap configured to be worn about a member of a living body, wherein the wearable strap is formed from a base material and has a length about the member along its longest dimension of the wearable strap, two edges, a width orthogonal to the length and extending between the two edges, and a thickness between an inner surface to be worn toward to the body and an outer surface to be worn away from the body; and   a tear away region formed across the width of the wearable strap, wherein the tear away region has a lesser tensile strength than adjoining regions of the wearable strap due to having at least one of a set consisting of (1) a lesser thickness than adjoining portions of the wearable strap and (2) formation of the tear away region of a second material having a lower ultimate tensile strength than the base material.   
     
     
         12 . The product of  claim 11 , wherein:
 the tear away region has a lesser thickness than adjoining portions of the wearable strap; and   the tear away region is formed of a second material having a lower ultimate tensile strength than the base material.   
     
     
         13 . The product of  claim 11 , wherein:
 the tear away region is formed of a second material having a lower ultimate tensile strength than the base material; and   the tear away region has a thickness at least as great as adjoining regions of the wearable strap.   
     
     
         14 . The product of  claim 11 , wherein the tear away region has a visually distinctive appearance from adjoining portions of the wearable strap. 
     
     
         15 . A product of manufacture, comprising:
 a wearable strap configured to be worn about a member of a living body, wherein the wearable strap is formed from a base material and has a length about the member along its longest dimension of the wearable strap, two edges, a width orthogonal to the length and extending between the two edges, and a thickness between an inner surface to be worn toward to the body and an outer surface to be worn away from the body; and   a tear away region formed across the width of the wearable strap from a second material different than the base material, wherein the tear away region has a lesser tensile strength than adjoining regions of the wearable strap due to the second material having a lower ultimate tensile strength than the base material.