Buckles – buttons – clasps – etc. – Trouser guards – clips – straps
Reexamination Certificate
2003-02-20
2004-03-09
Sakran, Victor (Department: 3677)
Buckles, buttons, clasps, etc.
Trouser guards, clips, straps
C024S300000, C024S301000, C024S302000, C024S305000, C024S298000, C024S003100, C002S312000, C002S323000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06701582
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a trouser leg retaining device for use in connection with keeping one's trousers positioned in the proper place. The trouser leg retaining device has particular utility in connection with ensuring that the trouser leg does not get caught within the shoes.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Trouser leg retaining devices are desirable for keeping trouser legs in place and ensuring that the trouser leg does not get caught within the shoes.
The use of a footwear securing device is known in the prior art. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,974,591 to Leslie discloses a firefighter's boot to trouser strap device for keeping a firefighter's uniform together. However, the Leslie '591 patent does not have an elastomeric band which stretches with the movement of the user, and has further drawbacks of being unable to be used with any footwear other than boots.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,115,906 to Lavine et al discloses a clippable trouser retaining strap that maintains the cuff of a leg of a pair of trousers in a downward position. However, the Lavine et al '906 patent does not have a mechanism to secure the pant to the back of the shoe, and additionally does not have a design snap onto which a logo may be displayed.
Similarly, U.S. Pat. No. 4,941,213 to Grilliot et al discloses a firefighter's boot and trouser attachment that keeps a firefighter's boot attached to his trouser leg. However, the Grilliot et al '213 patent does not have an elastomeric strap, which stretches with the movement of the user, and cannot be used with any footwear other than boots. It has the additional deficiency of wrapping around the firefighters boot as opposed to attaching to the top of the boot.
Lastly, U.S. Pat. No. 5,542,156 to Oglesby discloses a trouser leg retaining device that keeps trouser legs attached to shoes to keep pant legs from riding up. However, the Oglesby '156 patent does not attach to the top of a shoe, and has the additional deficiency of attaching to the bottom of a shoe thus enabling the elastic strap to wear out quicker due to friction from walking on pavement.
While the above-described devices fulfill their respective, particular objectives and requirements, the aforementioned patents do not describe a trouser leg retaining device that allows attachment to the top of a shoe as opposed to wrapping around the side or the bottom of a shoe or boot. The present patent also can be used with any sort of footwear, not just boots as seen in some of the above-mentioned patents. Furthermore, the present patent utilizes an elastomeric strap to allow for stretching with the movement of the user. The snap used to attach the trouser to the shoe can be made with any design or logo for decoration. The present invention also can use either a circular hook device or an alligator clip for attachment to the shoe.
Therefore, a need exists for a new and improved trouser leg retaining device that can be used for keeping pants in place. In this regard, the present invention substantially fulfills this need. In this respect, the trouser leg retaining device according to the present invention substantially departs from the conventional concepts and designs of the prior art, and in doing so provides an apparatus primarily developed for the purpose of keeping pants legs in place.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
In view of the foregoing disadvantages inherent in the known types of footwear securing device now present in the prior art, the present invention provides an improved trouser leg retaining device, and overcomes the above-mentioned disadvantages and drawbacks of the prior art. As such, the general purpose of the present invention, which will be described subsequently in greater detail, is to provide a new and improved trouser leg retaining device and method which has all the advantages of the prior art mentioned heretofore and many novel features that result in a trouser leg retaining device which is not anticipated, rendered obvious, suggested, or even implied by the prior art, either alone or in any combination thereof.
To attain this, the present invention essentially comprises an elastic band with opposing ends having a bell-shaped ring on one end and an O-ring on the other end. A rigid support member having a U-shaped channel on one end lies adjacent to the elastic band. The U-shaped channel has a shorter side with gripping teeth on the inside surface to grip the outside of the pant leg. A snap fastener device comprised of two separate sections is used to attach the elastic band and the support member to a pant leg. A first section of a snap goes through the bell-shaped ring and through a hole that is in the end of the support member that is opposite the U-shaped channel to connect the support member to the elastic band. The second section of the snap is pushed through the pant leg from the exterior of the pant leg to the interior of the pant leg to slidably engage with the first section of the snap to connect the trouser leg retaining device to the pant leg. The outside surface of the second section of the snap can be imprinted with a predetermined logo or design. The O-shaped ring has a coupling that opens to attach the trouser leg retaining device to a shoe strap on the back of a shoe. The ring is attached to the shoe and the snap attaches to the pant leg to keep the pant leg in place and not let it fall behind the shoe. The strap also has an adjuster secured to it to adjust the length of the elastic band.
There has thus been outlined, rather broadly, the more important features of the invention in order that the detailed description thereof that follows may be better understood and in order that the present contribution to the art may be better appreciated.
The invention may also include a locking clip at the bottom end of the elastic band as opposed to an O-shaped ring. The locking clip is useful if the shoes being worn do not have a hanging loop on their backside. The locking clip would have a pair of jaws pivotally attached by a spring with a pair of flanges. When pressure was applied to the flanges, the jaws would open to attach to the shoe. The locking clip would attach to the back of a shoe and could be used with any type of shoe. There are, of course, additional features of the invention that will be described hereinafter and which will form the subject matter of the claims attached.
Numerous objects, features and advantages of the present invention will be readily apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art upon a reading of the following detailed description of presently preferred, but nonetheless illustrative, embodiments of the present invention when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. In this respect, before explaining the current embodiment of the invention in detail, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited in its application to the details of construction and to the arrangements of the components set forth in the following description or illustrated in the drawings. The invention is capable of other embodiments and of being practiced and carried out in various ways. Also, it is to be understood that the phraseology and terminology employed herein are for the purpose of descriptions and should not be regarded as limiting.
As such, those skilled in the art will appreciate that the conception, upon which this disclosure is based, may readily be utilized as a basis for the designing of other structures, methods and systems for carrying out the several purposes of the present invention. It is important, therefore, that the claims be regarded as including such equivalent constructions insofar as they do not depart from the spirit and scope of the present invention.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a new and improved trouser leg retaining device that has all of the advantages of the prior art shoe to trouser strap device and none of the disadvantages.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a new and im
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