Buckles – buttons – clasps – etc. – Separable-fastener or required component thereof – Including member having distinct formations and mating...
Reexamination Certificate
1999-02-26
2001-01-09
Sakran, Victor N. (Department: 3626)
Buckles, buttons, clasps, etc.
Separable-fastener or required component thereof
Including member having distinct formations and mating...
C024S615000, C024S633000, C024S634000, C024S656000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06170133
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a buckle having three-way strap and used for securing a human body and the like.
2. Description of the Related Art
Conventionally, a buckle mounted to each coupling end portion of a three-way strap comprises a pair of plugs and a socket into which the pair of plugs are inserted and engaged with. An operating portion for resiliently deforming the engaged buckle to disengagement is mounted to the socket. For example, a buckle disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-open Publication No. 7-246106 has a hinge portion which is a resilient portion formed integrally with an upper face of the socket, and a lock canceling button which is an operating portion is defined at a tip end of the hinge portion in a cantilevered state. A through hole is defined on a bottom face of the socket and corresponds to a position of the lock canceling button.
In a buckle disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-open Publication No. 8-140712 of the same applicant as that of the present invention, a resilient portion is mounted from an inner side of a bottom face of a socket to extend diagonally toward an upper face of the socket in a cantilevered state, and an operating portion is mounted to a tip end of the resilient portion.
There is also a coupling device disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-open Publication No. 8-89314, wherein a lock member which is an operating portion is separated from a socket. In this device, two resilient leg portions projecting diagonally and downward are formed at a bottom face of the lock member to abut on an inner side face of a bottom face of the socket, and the lock member is supported for projecting and sinking movements.
An operation of the buckle disclosed in each the above Japanese patent application laid-open publication is reliably carried out by inserting the plugs into inserting holes of the socket and pushing the plugs against a resilient force generated at the engagement. In order to pull the plugs out of the socket, the operating portion such as a lock canceling button of the socket is pushed. Thus, the engagements between engaged portions of the plugs and the socket are disengaged, thereby the pair of plugs can be pulled out of the socket.
In the case of the technique disclosed in above Japanese Patent Application Laid-open Publication No. 7-246106, because the through hole is defined on the rear face of the socket and which corresponds to the position of the lock canceling button, clothes or a finger may be caught on the lock canceling button, and the buckle is inconvenient to use. The lock canceling button is not sufficiently strong due to its cantilevered structure. Also, clothes or other members may be inserted and caught in the through hole which corresponds to the position of the lock canceling button, and thus, the lock canceling button may be stripped off and broken. In the case of the technique disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-open Publication No. 8-140712, by pushing the operating chip of the operating portion, the pair of plugs are disengaged and the plugs jump out of the socket. Because the operating chip is supported by a resilient portion in a cantilevered state, displacement of the operating chip opposite to the resilient portion is liable to increase. Therefore, due to an operation of the operating chip, the plug inserted to an opposite side to the resilient portion is liable to be disengaged faster. As a result, there were differences in amounts of jumping out of the plugs and feelings at the time of the disengagement. In addition, the operating chip is not sufficiently strong due to its cantilevered state, and the operating chip may be stripped off similarly to the above Japanese patent application laid-open publication. In the technique disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-open Publication No. 8-89314, both sides of the lock member can be evenly displaced by a pair of resilient leg portions. However, the lock member is formed independently, thereby increasing a number of parts and complicating the structure.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention has been accomplished with the above prior art in view, and it is an object of the invention to provide a buckle with a desirable operability, wherein engagements of a pair of plugs with a socket are disengaged simultaneously by a simple structure.
To solve the above object, according to the invention, there is provided a buckle comprising a pair of plugs respectively mounted to end portions of a pair of straps, a socket mounted to an end portion of another strap, a strap mounting portion formed at a base portion of each of the plugs, a tongue portion formed to project from the strap mounting portion and to be inserted into the socket, an engaging portion formed at a tip end portion of the tongue portion, a pair of inserting portions which are formed in the socket to penetrate the socket and to face each other and into which the tongue portions are inserted respectively, fixed engaged portions which are formed in the inserting portions and with which the engaging portions of the plugs are engaged, and an operating portion which is formed between the engaged portions and which displaces the engaging portions to disengage the engaging portions with the engaged portions.
The operating portion comprises an operating chip exposed to an outer surface of the socket, pushing portions integrally formed on a rear face side of the operating chip, and a pair of resilient portions which extend from the operating chip, integrally extend from a rear face side of the socket toward insides of the inserting portions, and are disposed symmetrically with respect to the operating chip. The pair of resilient portions are stick-shaped and disposed on a straight line, end portions of the resilient portions which face each other are continuously formed to be connected to the operating chip, and other end portions of the resilient portions are continuously formed to be connected to a rear face of the socket. The socket is defined in a vicinity of the resilient portions with through holes slightly larger than the resilient portions and is defined at side edge portions of the through holes with gentle projections. The socket is defined with an operating hole into which the operating portion is fitted, and the operating portion is defined at an end portion thereof with an L-shaped engaging projection to be locked on a side edge portion of the through hole.
In the buckle of the invention, because the operating chip is supported by the resilient portions having both-end supported structures and because the resilient portions are disposed symmetrically with respect to the operating chip, displacements when the operating chip is pushed are even, and tongue portions of the pair of plugs are pushed substantially simultaneously with the same force and are resiliently deformed similarly to each other. Thus, the engaging portions of the tongue portions are released from the engaged portions of the socket, to be disengaged. Because the tip end portions of the tongue portions are pushed by the pushing portions of the operating portion at this time, a force for pushing the plugs out of the socket is applied, and the pair of plugs jump out of the socket substantially simultaneously.
REFERENCES:
patent: 3522640 (1970-08-01), Lohr
patent: 5113556 (1992-05-01), Murai et al.
patent: 5542161 (1996-08-01), Anscher
patent: 5551131 (1996-09-01), Anscher
patent: 5659931 (1997-08-01), Anscher
patent: 5709014 (1998-01-01), Takahashi
patent: 0 492 221 (1992-07-01), None
patent: 0 681 793 (1995-11-01), None
Patent Abstracts of Japan, publication No. 07246106, vol. 096, No. 001 (1 page), Sep. 26, 1995.
Patent Abstracts of Japan, publication No. 08089314, vol. 096, No. 008 (1 page), Apr. 9, 1996.
Finnegan Henderson Farabow Garrett & Dunner L.L.P.
Sakran Victor N.
YKK Corporation
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