Buckles – buttons – clasps – etc. – Separable-fastener or required component thereof – Including member having distinct formations and mating...
Reexamination Certificate
1999-10-28
2001-03-27
Sandy, Robert J. (Department: 3626)
Buckles, buttons, clasps, etc.
Separable-fastener or required component thereof
Including member having distinct formations and mating...
C024S642000, C024S641000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06205630
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a unit of buckle component members and a buckle.
2. Description of the Related Art
FIG. 7
shows a conventional buckle
110
as an example (see Japanese Patent Application Publication (JP-B) No. 2-4281).
In the buckle
110
, a lock member guide
114
is mounted on a metal plate
112
, and a lock member
116
is moved by the lock member guide
114
between a position where the lock member
116
is engaged with a tongue plate (hereinafter referred to as an engaging position) and a position where it is disengaged from the tongue plate (hereinafter referred to as an engagement-released position). Further, a pressing key
118
is mounted to the metal plate
112
in a slidable manner, and by sliding the pressing key
118
, the lock member
116
is moved from the engaging position to the engagement-released position and locking is thereby released.
As shown in
FIG. 8
, the lock member guide
114
and the pressing key
118
are made integral by being joined together by portions
120
to be broken, before the lock member guide
114
and the pressing key
118
are mounted to the metal plate
112
. When the pressing key
118
is slid with side walls
122
of the pressing key
118
being engaged with side edges of the metal plate
112
, the lock member guide
114
abuts against the metal plate
112
during the sliding and the sliding is stopped. When the pressing key
118
is slid further, the portions
120
to be broken are sheared due to shearing force acting thereon, and the lock member guide
114
and the pressing key
118
are separated from each other.
However, in the above-described buckle
110
, a minimum sectional area portion of the portion
120
to be broken (that is, the portion having the smallest sectional area in an arbitrary cross-section which is either at the portion
120
to be broken or the vicinity thereof) is made parallel to a direction in which the pressing key
118
slides. On the other hand, tensile stress acting on the portion
120
to be broken when the portion
120
is sheared acts obliquely to a direction in which the portion
120
is sheared (that is, the direction in which the pressing key
118
slides), and therefore, the sheared portion is formed along a direction perpendicular to the tensile stress so as to intersect the direction in which the pressing key
118
slides. For this reason, the portion
120
to be broken is not broken along the minimum sectional area portion and the sectional length of the portion which is actually broken becomes longer. Therefore, a breaking force greater than necessary, that is, a force for sliding the pressing key
118
, becomes necessary. Further, when the broken portion and the minimum sectional area portion do not coincide with each other as described above, broken portions are formed in plural places and members disposed between the broken portions are sometimes separated from both of the lock member guide
114
and the pressing key
118
and fall off. In this case, it is necessary to remove, by suction or sweeping, the pieces which have fallen off, thereby resulting in an increase in the number of manufacturing processes.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
In view of the above-described facts, an object of the present invention is to provide a unit of buckle component members and a buckle which can be assembled with a small sliding force and in which there are no pieces which fall off during assembly.
In order to achieve the above-described object, in a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a unit of buckle component members, comprising: plural members which are formed integrally with each other and are provided so as to be mounted to a buckle main body by sliding the plural members with respect to the buckle main body; and connecting portions by which the plural members are connected together to form an integrated main body of the unit of buckle component members and which respectively include minimum sectional area portions each intersecting a direction in which the main body of the unit of buckle component members slides with respect to the buckle main body.
In a state in which the main body of the unit of buckle component members is slid with respect to the buckle main body and some of the members which form the main body of the unit of buckle component members are fixed to the buckle main body, when the main body of the unit of buckle component members is slid further, the fixed member and a member which is being slid become offset from each other and tensile stress acts on the connecting portions obliquely to a direction of shearing (the sliding direction). The connecting portions each include a minimum sectional area portion disposed along a direction which intersects the sliding direction. The connecting portions are each pulled from both sides of the minimum sectional area portion by the shearing force, and therefore, a crack is formed in the minimum sectional area portion along the shortest possible length of the minimum sectional area portion. According to the first aspect of the present invention, since the minimum sectional area portion is thus broken, a small force suffices for causing the breakage, that is, for the sliding when the main body of the unit of buckle component members is assembled to the buckle main body.
Further, since the breakage is caused in the minimum sectional area portion, the breakage does not occur at plural places. Accordingly, there is no possibility of pieces falling off during assembly.
In accordance with a second aspect of the present invention, the minimum sectional area portions each intersect a sliding direction of the main body of the unit of buckle component members at an angle of intersection in the range of 40 to 50 degrees such that each minimum sectional area portion extends substantially perpendicular to the direction of tensile stress acting on the connecting portions due to the sliding of the main body of the unit of buckle component members.
Generally, the tensile stress applied to the connecting portions acts in a direction which is inclined at an angle of about 45 degrees with respect to the direction of shearing (the sliding direction). Accordingly, according to the second aspect of the present invention, the minimum sectional area portion is made to intersect the sliding direction at an angle of 40 to 50 degrees, so as to allow the tensile stress applied to the connecting portions to be made substantially perpendicular to the minimum sectional area portions. As a result, the breakage can be effectively caused in the minimum sectional area portions.
A third aspect of the present invention is a buckle comprising: a holding member for holding a lock member, which is engaged with a tongue plate inserted up to a predetermined position so as to make it impossible to pull but the tongue plate, such that the lock member is movable between a position where the lock member is engaged with the tongue plate and a position where the engagement of the lock member and the tongue plate is released; a release operating member which operates the lock member engaged with the tongue plate so as to move the lock member in an engagement releasing direction; and a mounting member to which the holding member is fixed and to which the release operating member is mounted in a slidable manner, wherein, before the holding member and the release operating member are assembled with the mounting member, the holding member and the release operating member are integrally connected via connecting portions, to thereby form a unit of buckle component members which can be mounted to the mounting member by sliding with respect to the mounting member, and the connecting portions respectively include minimum sectional area portions which are each formed along a direction which intersects the sliding direction of the unit of buckle component members.
In this type of buckle, the lock member is engaged with the tongue plate inserted up to a predetermined position so that the tongue plate cannot be pulled
Cole Thomas W.
Kabushiki Kaisha Tokai-Rika-Denki-Seisakusho
Nixon & Peabody LLP
Sandy Robert J.
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