Apparel – Guard or protector – For wearer's head
Reexamination Certificate
2002-01-09
2004-12-07
Moran, Katherine (Department: 3765)
Apparel
Guard or protector
For wearer's head
C024S170000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06826785
ABSTRACT:
TECHNICAL FIELD
This invention relates generally to buckles, and more particularly, to buckle assemblies for use in association with straps.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Individuals often wear goggles to protect their eyes or to improve their vision when participating in a sport or a recreational activity, such as skiing, motorcycle racing or snowmobiling. During use, a strap holds the goggles in place on the wearer's head. The strap length is typically adjusted and held securely in place by use of a buckle.
FIG. 1
shows a buckle configuration typically used to secure and adjust the length of a strap commonly used with sport goggles. The buckle
2
is unitary, and includes two slots
14
,
16
that are bordered by sides
10
,
12
and a center bar
18
. The slots
14
,
16
are sized to receive a strap (not shown).
To secure and adjust a pair of sport goggles, two buckles
2
,
3
and two straps
22
,
24
are typically used, as shown in FIG.
2
. The first and second buckles
2
,
3
are substantially identical, and are generally of the type shown in FIG.
1
. In operation, a pair of sport goggles
20
have a first strap
22
and a second strap
24
attached to lateral sides
26
,
28
, respectively, of the goggles
20
. The end of the first strap
22
is threaded through a slot
34
on the buckle
2
, looped back, and attached to the first strap at a point
36
. The second strap
24
is looped over the center bar of the second buckle
3
and one end is attached to the strap
24
at a point
40
. Another end
42
of the second strap
24
is threaded upwardly through a slot
46
on the first buckle, and brought back towards the second buckle
3
. The second strap
24
is further threaded upwardly through a slot
48
on the second buckle, over the center bar (not shown), downwardly through the second slot
16
, then attached to the lateral side
34
of the sport goggles
20
. This configuration allows the user to lengthen or shorten the overall length of the assembly by sliding the second buckle
3
to and fro along the length of the second strap
24
.
The buckle and strap assembly shown in
FIG. 2
works adequately to facilitate lengthening and shortening of the assembly, but it is not without problems. As shown in
FIG. 2
, loops
50
,
52
are formed in the first and second straps
22
,
24
. The loops
50
,
52
are typically formed by sewing a strap end back onto the strap itself. For example,
FIG. 2
shows the ends of the first and second straps
22
,
24
attached at points
36
,
40
to form the loops
50
,
52
around the center bars of the buckles
2
,
3
.
The stitching is usually performed by a factory worker, who must sew each individual strap. The sewing step is a bottleneck in the manufacturing process since the sewing is not performed by an automated process. Sport goggles having sewn straps can not be shipped to the retailer in pieces, and must be fully assembled at the factory prior to shipment. Thus, performing this step by hand decreases the manufacturer's throughput of the sport-goggles assembly, while increasing the attendant manufacturing costs.
The end user also encounters problems with sport-goggles assemblies having sewn straps. For example, buckles cannot be replaced by the user without specialized equipment, and are typically returned to the factory for repair. Because the strap is sewn, the buckle cannot be replaced without removing the stitches, removing the buckle, and re-sewing the strap to secure a new buckle. An industrial sewing machine is recommended to provide stitching sufficient to provide a secure loop to anchor the strap to the buckle. As such, sport-goggles users can not replace a damaged buckle without significant difficulty, expense, and delay.
As previously described, the sport-goggles assembly as shown in
FIG. 2
may not be disassembled and reassembled without specialized equipment and substantial effort. In pursuit of sports such as skiing, users may choose to wear a helmet. The circumference of a user's helmet is necessarily larger than the user's head. Using the sport-goggles assembly shown in
FIG. 2
, it is difficult to quickly and easily provide additional strap length if a user should desire to use a particular sport-goggles assembly in association with a helmet.
A need therefore exists for an improved buckle for use with a strap that can be removed, replaced, and allow the overall length of the strap to be increased without the use of specialized equipment.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention is directed towards buckle assemblies having a pivotable member mounted within a frame. One buckle in accordance with the invention includes a frame having an exterior border and an interior border, and a pivotable member pivotably attached to two opposed portions of the interior border. The pivotable member has a longitudinal axis and is adapted to attach to a strap along the longitudinal axis. In accordance with certain aspects of the invention, the pivotable bar may be selectively detachable, the strap may be elastic, and the buckle frame may have a flange along a border generally parallel to the pivotable member.
In another embodiment in accordance with the present invention, a pair of sport goggles has two straps attached to respective lateral sides. One of the straps is attached to a pivotable buckle assembly.
In another embodiment in accordance with the present invention, a pair of sport goggles has two straps attached to respective lateral sides. One of the straps is attached to a pivotable buckle assembly. The other strap is selectively engageable with the pivotable buckle assembly or with a third strap. The third strap is adapted to be engageable with the buckle assembly.
Yet another embodiment in accordance with the present invention includes a pair of sport goggles that has two straps attached to respective lateral sides with a pivotable buckle assembly attached to each of the ends of the two straps respectively. In another embodiment in accordance with the present invention, a member is connected to loops formed with the first and second straps to add overall length to the sport-goggles assembly.
REFERENCES:
patent: 55533 (1866-06-01), Plotts
patent: 341127 (1886-05-01), Bretzfield
patent: 873791 (1907-12-01), Rubin
patent: 982433 (1911-01-01), Knight et al.
patent: 1049757 (1913-01-01), Negraval
patent: 1147955 (1915-07-01), Langhammer
patent: 1431661 (1922-10-01), Hodge
patent: D65201 (1924-07-01), Rosenblum
patent: 1898741 (1933-02-01), Peterson
patent: D125083 (1940-10-01), Dickson
patent: 2713708 (1955-07-01), Anderson
patent: 2919481 (1960-01-01), Finken et al.
patent: 3000384 (1961-09-01), Piers, Jr.
patent: 3583750 (1971-06-01), Norton
patent: 3898715 (1975-08-01), Balder
patent: 4027666 (1977-06-01), Marx
patent: 4112521 (1978-09-01), Uke
patent: 4273130 (1981-06-01), Simpson
patent: 4564960 (1986-01-01), Nishiyama
patent: D287067 (1986-12-01), Kasai
patent: 4628918 (1986-12-01), Johnson, Jr.
patent: D290349 (1987-06-01), Kasai
patent: 4716630 (1988-01-01), Skyba
patent: 4727628 (1988-03-01), Rudholm
patent: 5165402 (1992-11-01), McCoy
patent: 5177837 (1993-01-01), Rekuc
patent: 5356412 (1994-10-01), Golds et al.
patent: 5657493 (1997-08-01), Ferrero et al.
patent: 5727259 (1998-03-01), Kawamata
patent: 5734995 (1998-04-01), Chiang
patent: 5870816 (1999-02-01), McFalls et al.
patent: 5881394 (1999-03-01), Garofalo
patent: 5971947 (1999-10-01), McNally et al.
patent: 6013045 (2000-01-01), Gaylord
patent: 6059634 (2000-05-01), Fildan
patent: 6070272 (2000-06-01), Chiang
patent: 6119276 (2000-09-01), Newcomb et al.
patent: 6149617 (2000-11-01), McNally et al.
patent: 6212740 (2001-04-01), Yang et al.
patent: 6295700 (2001-10-01), Plzak
EJ's Sunglasses, LLC, Helmet Helper, 1998-2000, Order Webpage Dec. 7, 2001.
Jenn Weede, Smith Helmet Helper, www.ruhooked.com, Hooked on the Outdoors Magazine: Gear Review, Dec. 7, 2001.
Dorsey & Whitney LLP
Moran Katherine
Smith Sport Optics, Inc.
LandOfFree
Pivotable strap-buckle assembly does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this patent.
If you have personal experience with Pivotable strap-buckle assembly, we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and Pivotable strap-buckle assembly will most certainly appreciate the feedback.
Profile ID: LFUS-PAI-O-3330648