Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
BACKGROUND OF TtfE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention:
The present invention relates to a buckle for
fastening a closure flap of a bag, a rucksack or the like,
and also for fastening straps, belts or suspenders of a
shoe, a boot, trousers, a skirt or the like.
Prior art and the present invention will be described
with reference to the accompanying drawings in which:
FIG. lA is a plan view of a male member of a buckle
embodying the present invention;
FIG. lB is a side elevational view, partly in aross
section, of FIG. lA;
FIG. lC is a bottom view of FIG. lA;
FIG. lD is a cross sectional view taken on line A-A of
FIG. lC;
FIG. 2A is a plan view, partly in cross section, of a
female member of the buckle;
FIG. 2B is a side elevational view, partly in cross
section, of FIG. 2A;
FIG. 2C is a bottom view of FIG. 2A;
FIG. 2D is a front elevational view of FIG. 2A;
FIG. 2E is a rear elevational view, partly in cross
section, of FIG. 2A;
FIG. 3A is a plan view of the buckle, showing the
~ male and female members in a coupled posture;
FIG. 3B is a side elevational view of FIG. 3A;
FIG. 3C is a rear elevational view, partly in cross
section, of~FIG. 3A;
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FIG. ~A is a plan vlew of a buckle accordiny to a
prior art, showiny male an~ female members in a coupled
posture;
FIG. 4B is a bottom view of FIG. 4A; and
FIG. 4C is a longitudinal cross-sectional view of FIG.
4A.
2. Description of the Prior Art:
Japanese Utility Model Laid-open Publication No.
60-31809 discloses a buckle for fastening belts of shoe
which buckle comprises, as shown in FIGS. 4A, ~B and 4C of
the accompanying drawings, interlocking male and female
members A, B. The male member A has on its bottom surface
a pair of resilient legs C, C, each having on its outer
side a stepped poxtion which is engageable with the edge D
of an aperture in the female member B as tha male member A
is pressed against the ~emale member B so as to force the
legs C, C into the aperture from the top side of the female
member B in a snap action. The female member B has a pair
of resilient arms E, E having a pair of inwardly dlrected
20: pushing portions F, F. When the two arms E, E are pressed
: toward each other, the pusher portion ~, F pushes the legs
C, C so as to resiliently bend the same inwardly, thereby
: bringing the stepped portions out of engagement with the
: edge D of the aperture, so that the male member A is
25 ~ uncoupled ~rom`the female member B. The female member B
~ ~further has a hollow chamber H formed thereln and~a
: : cantilever resilient member G supported on the left side
and~on the bottom surface (as viewed in FIG. 4C) of the
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female member B and extendiny into the hollow chamber H so
as to normally urge at it~ distal end K khe bottom surface
of the male member A upwardly, so that, when the male
member A is uncoupled from the female member B, the male
member A springs up under the resiliency of the cantilever
resilient member G.
However, such a conventional buckle is
disadvantageous in that, since the cantilever resilient
member G of the female member B continues to urge the
bottom surface of the male member A throughout while the
male member A is coupled with the female member B, the
cantilever resilient member G is liable to fatigue, namely,
has a tendency to lose resiliency so that the buckle as a
whole lacks in durability. Furthermore, the cantilever
resilient member is formed in such a shape to extend into
the hollow chamber H, it is not simple to manufacture.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
With the drawbacks in view, it is an object of the
present invention to provide a buckle having resilient
means for springing the male member apart from the female
member the moment the former is uncoupled from the latter,
the resilient means being simple in construction, thus easy
to form and capable of maintaining resiliency despite of
long use, so that the buckle as a whole is easy to
manufacture and wears well for a prolonged period of time.
According to the present invention, there is provided
a buckle comprising: a male member having a tongue-shaped
presser having on its bottom side a pair of engaging legs
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each haviny on it~ inner si~e a stepped portion; a female
member ln the form of a case haviny in its top wall a
central aperture for insertion of the engaging legs
thereinto, the female member having a pair of resilient
arms mounted, one on each side thereof, each resilient arm
extending from one end of the female member and terminating
in a free end portion for resilient angular movement about
its proximal end, each free end portion having on its
inner side a hook-shaped engaging means adapted for
engagement with the stepped portion of the engaging legs
when the engaging legs are inserted into khe central
aperture; and the tongue-shaped presser further having on
its bottom side a pair of resilient pieces, the free end
portions further having on their respective inner sides
abutment portions adapted to compress the distal portions
of the resilient pieces against the resiliency thereof as
the resilient arms are angularly moved in the direction to
bring the hook-shaped engaging means out of engagement with
the stepped portion of the engaging legs.
Many other advantages and features of the present
invention will become manifest to those versed in the art
upon making reference to the detailed description and the
accompanying sheets of drawings in which preferred
structural embodiments incorporating the principles of the
present invention are shown by way of illustrative example.
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DETAILED DEscRIprrIoN
The principle of the present invention ls
particularly useful when embodied in a buckle such as shown
in FIGS. 3A through 3c.
The buckle comprises a male member 1 (FIGS. lA through
lD) and a female member 10 (FIGS. 2A through 2E). Each of
the male and female members 1, 10 is moulded of a synthetic
resin such as polyacetal, nylon or polypropylene.
As shown in FIGS. lA through lD, the male member 1
includes an attachment plate 3 and a tongue-shaped presser
2 pivotally mounted on the attachment plate 3 by means of
a pair of aligned pins 4, 4 provided on one end of and on
the opposite sides of the tongue shaped presser 2.
The tongue-shaped presser 2 has on its bottom side a
pair of engaging legs 5, 5 and a pair of resilient pieces
6, 6, all integrally formed on the tongue-shaped presser
2. As better shown in FIG. 1, the two engaging legs 5, 5
are separated, laterally of the tongue-shaped presser 2,
from each other; while the two resilient pieces 6, 6 are,
slmilarly, separated, laterally of the tongue-shaped
presser 2, from each other. The two resilient pleces 6, 6
are disposed adjacent to and extend parallel to the two
engaging legs 5, 5, respectively, longitudinally o~ the
tongue-shaped presser 2. As better shown in FIG.~lD, each
of the engaging legs 5, 5 has at its *op a bevelled surface
: 7 and at the~middle on its inner or opposed side, a
s~epped:portion 8.
As shown in FIGS. lB and lC, the attachment plate 3 is
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better shown in FIG. 3B, the studs 21, 21 pass through a
strap, a belt, a suspender or the like (hereinafter referred
to as strap) 22 first and then are secured at their distal
ends to a base plate 23, so that the male member 1 is firmly
attached to the strap 22.
As shown in FIG. 2A through 2E, the female member 10 is
generally in the form of a case having in its top wall a
central aperture 11 into which the two engaging legs 5, 5
and the two resilient pieces 6, 6 of the male member 1 is
adapted to be inserted. The female member lO also has a
pair of resilient arms 12, 12 mounted, one on each of the
opposed sides thereof. Each resilient arm 12 is integrally
formed with and extends lengthwise from one end (right end
as viewed in FIGS. 2A through 2C) of the female member 10
and terminate in~a free end portion I4 so that the resilient
arms 12, 12 are angularly movable about the respective
proximal ends 13j 13 in resillent manner towards and away
from each other. The free end portion 14 has at its inner
side an extension 15 which is directed inwardly of the
female member lO. The extension 15 has at its distal end a
hook-shaped engaging means 16 adapted for snap engagement
with the stepped portion 8 of the engaglng leg 5 of the male
member l~when the engaglng legs 5 are forced lnto the
central aperture ll of the female member lO. As better
,
shown in~FIGS. 2A and 2E, there is defined by and between
the outer side of the hook-shaped engaging means 16 and the
opposite side or the inner side of of the free end portion
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14 of the resilient arm 12 a space 17 adapted to receive the
corresponding one of the engaging legs 5, 5 and the
corresponding one of the resilient pieces 6, 6 when the
engaging legs 5, 5 and the resilient pieces 6, 6 are forced
into the central aperture 11 of the female member 10. Each
free end portion 14 has on its inner side a protuberant
abutment portion 18 which faces the outer side of the
hook-shaped engaging means 16. The abutment portions 18, 18
are adapted to compress the distal portions 9, 9 of the
respective resilient pieces 6, 6 against the resiliency
thereof when the resilient arms 12, 12 are angularly moved
towards each other, thus exerting force tending to move the
tongue-shaped presser 2 upwardly, thereby snappingly
uncoupling the tongue-shaped presser 2 of the male member 1
from the female member 10. As better shown in FIG. 2E, each
abutment portion 18 may have at its distal end a slant
surface 19 facing obliquely upwardly so as to more
effectively exert forces tending to move the tongue-shaped
presser 2 upwardly. Each resilient arm 12 has on its outer
side a grip plate 20 which extends perpendicularly to the
resilient arm 12. As shown in FIGS. 2B and 2C, the female
member 10 has on its bottom side three studs 24, 24, 24
which,~as shown in FIG. 3B, pass through the strap 25 first
and are fas~tened at their distal ends to a base plate 26 for
firm attachment of the strap 25 to the female member 10.
Coupling and uncoupling operation of the male member 1 and
female member 10 lS now described hereinbelow.
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For coupling the male mernber l~with the female member
10, the tongue-shaped presser 2 of the male member 1 is
caused to pivot on the pins into pressing engagement with
the female member 10, thereby forcing the engaging legs 5, 5
and the resilient pieces 6, 6 of the former into the central
aperture 11 of the latter. The engaging legs 5, 5 are
forced against the hook-shaped engaging means 16, 16 as the
former compress the latter against the resiliency of the
resilient arms 12, 12 until the stepped portions 8, 8 come
into snapping engagement with the hook-shaped engaging means
16, 16 of the female member 10. FIGS. 3A through 3C shows
the male member 1 and the female member 10 which have been
resultantly coupled with each other. FIG. 3B shows that the
male member 1 and the female member 10 are attached to the
respective straps 22, 25, so that the male member 1 and the
female member 10 being coupled together has given rise to
the respective straps 22, 25 being joined with each other.
For uncoupling the male member 1 from the female member
10, the grip plates 20, 20 of the resilient arms 12, 12 are
compressed by fingers of a wearer. As a result, the
resillent arms 12, 12 angularly move about their proximal
ends 13, 13 against their own resiliency so as to move their
free end portions 14, 14 towards each other until the
hook-shaped engaging means 16, 16 provided on the extension
15~, 15 of the free end portion 14, 14 come out of engagement
wlth the stepped portions 8, 8 of the engaging legs 5, 5, of
the tongue-shaped presser 2. At the moment that the
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hook-shaped engaging means 16, 16 come out of engagement
with the respective stepped portions 8, 8, the abutment
portions 18, 18 compress the resilient pieces 6, 6 against
the resiliency thereof, so that, eventually, the
tongue-shaped presser 2 of the male member 1 springs apart
from female member 10 automatically in a snap action under
the resiliency of the resilient pieces 6, 6.
Release of fingers from the grip plates 20, 20 would
cause the resilient arms 12, 12 spring back under their own
resiliency whereby the hook-shaped engaging means 16, 16 and
the abutment portions 18, 18 are restored into their
respective original positions so that the female member 10
is just ready for next coupling with the male member 1.
With the construction of the buckle according to the
present invention described hereinabove, the following
advantages a~e accomplished.
As soon as uncoupled from the female memberj the
tongue-shaped presser of the male member automatically
spring apart from the female memberj so that the separation
of the male and female members can be carried out by a
single movement of:~ust compressing the grip plates. This
advantageousl~y dispenses with an additional work of manually
separating the tongue-shaped presser of the male member
apart from the femaie member.
: Furthermore, the resilient pieces~are bent or are
subjected to deformation by the abutment portion only when
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the grlp plates are compressed to uncouple the male and
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female member, so that the resilient pieces can maintain
their resiliency and hence the buckles as a whole can wear
for a prolonged period of time.
Still furthermore, the resilient pieces for springing
apart the male member from the female member is of such
simple construction as to just stand upright on the flat
bottom side of the tongue-shaped presser, so that the
resilient pieces are easier to form, and hence the buckle as
a whole are easier to manufacture.
ObViously, various modifications,and variations of the
present invention are possible in the light of the above
teaching. It is therefGre to be understood that within the
scope of the appended claims the invention may be practiced
o~herw'se than as specifically described.
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