Buckles – buttons – clasps – etc. – Separable-fastener or required component thereof – Including member having distinct formations and mating...
Reexamination Certificate
1999-09-27
2001-07-24
Sakran, Victor N. (Department: 3626)
Buckles, buttons, clasps, etc.
Separable-fastener or required component thereof
Including member having distinct formations and mating...
C024S616000, C024S633000, C024S621000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06263548
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION AND RELATED ART STATEMENT
The present invention relates to a buckle which is formed of a female member and a male member detachably connected to each other, and attached at two ends of, for example, a belt or a strap.
A conventional buckle as described above is formed of a female member in a hollow cylindrical shape, which is provided with an inserting hole and stopping portions, and a male member including elastic pieces, which are disposed at both end portions of a front surface of a collar portion to face each other. The elastic pieces are inserted into the inserting hole of the female member, and distal ends of the elastic pieces are provided with engaging portions for engaging the stopping portions of the female member.
A flat and hollow member or cylinder constituting the female member is opened at a front surface thereof to form the inserting hole thereat, and openings are formed in upper and lower or side walls of the hollow member to form the stopping portions. Also, a rear end of the hollow member is provided with an attaching mechanism for attaching or fixing an end of the belt or the like.
Further, the collar portion of the male member is provided with an attaching mechanism for attaching or fixing an end of the belt or the like.
And, the elastic pieces are disposed to project from the front surface of the collar portion.
Next, operations of attaching and detaching the conventional buckle will be explained.
Firstly, both ends of the belt are attached to the female member and the male member by utilizing the attaching mechanisms. Then, when the engaging portions of the male member are inserted into the hollow member of the female member, i.e., into the inserting hole, the respective engaging portions abut against the inner sides of the upper and lower walls of the hollow member, and the elastic pieces are bent inwardly. Accordingly, the elastic pieces can be inserted into the hollow member.
Then, when the elastic pieces with the engaging portions are inserted into the hollow member until the collar portion abuts against the hollow member, the respective engaging portions face the openings, so that the engaging portions enter into the openings by urging force of the elastic pieces to thereby engage the stopping portions which constitute front rims forming the openings. As a result, the male member and the female member are connected.
Also, in case of separating the female member and the male member, fingers of an operator are placed at the openings to push the engaging portions, so that the elastic pieces are bent. Accordingly, the engagements between the respective engaging portions and the stopping portions are released, and in this condition, the female member and the male member are respectively moved in the directions away from each other, so that the male member and the female member can be separated.
Incidentally, for example, the buckle as described above was disclosed in Japanese Patent Publication (KOKAI) No. S59-82803.
In the male member of the conventional buckle, the elastic pieces project from the front surface of the collar portion.
Therefore, in case the belt is wide, even if an entire length of the buckle formed by connecting the female member and the male member is long, a balance between the width in a vertical direction of the buckle and the entire length thereof in a lateral direction is matched.
However, even if the belt is narrow, since it is required to form a bending margin of the elastic piece, a length of the elastic piece can not be shortened. Thus, the entire length of the buckle formed by connecting the female member and the male member can not be shortened. Therefore, a balance between the width in the vertical direction of the buckle and the entire length thereof in the lateral direction is not matched. Accordingly, there has been a problem that the buckle becomes long, i.e., too long in the lateral or longitudinal direction relative to the vertical direction.
The present invention has been made to solve the above problem, and an object of the invention is to provide a buckle, wherein in case a belt or the like becomes narrow in width, the entire length of the male member is shortened while obtaining a sufficient length for the elastic piece and bending margin thereof, so that the entire length of the buckle formed by connecting the female member and the male member is not too long relative to the width thereof, resulting in maintaining or matching the balance between the entire length of the buckle and the width thereof.
Further objects and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the following description of the invention.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
To achieve the aforementioned object, the present invention provides a buckle, which is formed of a female member in a hollow shape provided with an inserting hole and stopping portions, and a male member including elastic pieces, which face each other and are disposed at both end portions of a front surface of a collar portion. The elastic pieces are inserted into the inserting hole of the female member, and distal ends of the elastic pieces are provided with engaging portions for engaging the stopping portions of the female member. Also, concave portions are formed at both the end portions of the front surface of the collar portion. Each concave portion is partly surrounded by the elastic piece and the front surface, so that the collar portion and the elastic piece are overlapped in the longitudinal direction.
Since each concave portion provides an additional length to each elastic piece, the elastic piece can bend inwardly in case a distance from a forward end of the elastic piece to a front surface of the collar portion is short, i.e. the length is short for bending the elastic piece sufficiently inwardly. Thus, the length of the male member, i.e. entire length of the buckle, can be shortened.
The female member may further include guide projections between the engaging portions, and the male member may further include a guided portion between the elastic pieces. The guided portion engages the guide projections for guiding the male member to the female member.
REFERENCES:
patent: 5131122 (1992-07-01), Lavato
patent: 5465472 (1995-11-01), Matoba
patent: 5774956 (1998-07-01), French et al.
patent: 5794316 (1998-08-01), Anscher
patent: 2226129 (1974-11-01), None
Kanesaka & Takeuchi
Nifco Inc.
Sakran Victor N.
LandOfFree
Buckle with reduced size does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this patent.
If you have personal experience with Buckle with reduced size, we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and Buckle with reduced size will most certainly appreciate the feedback.
Profile ID: LFUS-PAI-O-2471826