AU710659B2 - Belt - Google Patents

Description

(12) PATENT (11) Application No. AU 199717739 B2 (19) AUSTRALIAN PATENT OFFICE (10) Patent No. 710659 (54) Title Belt (51) 6 International Patent Classification(s) A41 F 009/00 A44B 015/00 A44B 011/00 A44B 017/00 (21) Application No: 199717739 Priority Data (31) Number (32) Date PO0197 1996.06.03 (43) Publication Date: 1997.12.11 (43) Publication Journal Date 1997.12.11 (44) Accepted Journal Date 1999.09.23 (71) Applicant(s) Girts Ozols (72) Inventor(s) Girts Ozols (74) Agent/Attorney Paul Kildea,PO Box 41,RED HILL ACT 2( (22) Application Date: 1997.04.03 (33) Country

AU

AUSTRALIA

Patents Act 1990

ORIGINAL

COMPLETE SPECIFICATION STANDARD PATENT invention Title: The following statement is a full description of this Invention, including the best method of performing it known to me:- V 2

BELT

The invention relates to a belt which may be worn around the waist, usually as a support for clothing such as the trousers of the wearer. A belt of this type is usually in the form of an elongated, thin, flat band of flexible material with means such as a buckle at one end which is adapted to receive the other end and engage with part of the belt to hold the belt in position around the waist of the wearer. Usually, trousers are provided with a plurality of trouser belt loops secured around the waist band to hold the belt adjacent to the top of the trousers. For convenience, a belt of this type adapted to be worn around the waist will hereinafter be referred to as a "trouser belt".

It has been the practice of carrying various items in the pockets of trousers, including a bunch of keys usually mounted on a key ring. Because of the damage often caused to trouser pockets, other ways of carrying a bunch of keys have been developed. Devices a..

are known which fit onto or over a trouser belt to support a bunch of keys. These known oO°a.

•devices have been an addition to the integral structure of a trouser belt and may unknowingly be dislodged from the belt and become lost. Further, those known devices have generally been bulky and made of metal and have been known to cause damage to o the belt and/or trousers. Clip-like devices for supporting keys adapted to be attached to o and supported by a belt loop have been proposed. Those devices have been known to damage the belt loop and/or trousers and cause an unwanted drag on the belt loop.

It is an object of the invention to provide a trouser belt which includes, as part of its structure, means from which to hang a bunch of keys.

3 In accordance with the invention, a trouser belt comprises an elongated, flexible band, characterised in that the band is formed of two lengths of flexible material, a substantially rigid link joining said lengths of flexible material intermediate the length of the belt, the link being substantially rectangular and having adjacent ends of said lengths of flexible material attached to opposite sides of said link and a snap lock carried by the substantially rectangular link.

A bunch of keys mounted on a key ring may be suspended from the snap lock by passing the key ring past the working part of the snap lock. Preferably, the snap lock is suspended from the upper side of the substantially rectangular link.

t: 10 To assist with an understanding of the invention, reference will now be made to the t: accompanying drawings which show one embodiment of the invention.

t S..In the drawings, oo S S Fig. 1 is a plan view of one embodiment of a trouser belt made in accordance with this invention; Fig. 2 is a top view of the belt of Fig. 1; and Fig. 3 is a perspective view of part of the belt of Fig. 1 showing the link with a snap lock hanging from its seat in a semicircular recess in the upper side of the link.

4 Fig. 1 illustrates one embodiment of the invention. This shows a trouser belt 11 in the form of an elongated, thin, flat and flexible band adapted to be worn around the waist of a person. In this embodiment, a buckle 12 is attached to the band at one end of belt 11 and is adapted to receive the other end of the belt and to co-operate with any one of a series of holes 13 in the band to hold belt 11 in position around the waist of a wearer.

In accordance with the invention, the band is formed of two lengths of flexible material 6 which are joined intermediate the length of belt 11 by a strong, substantially rigid, substantially rectangular link 8 which may be made of any suitable material such as metal or plastic. As is generally the case with belts of this type, the lengths 6 may be 10 made of leather, imitation leather, plastic, textile material or other flexible material. The substantially rectangular link 8 has three continuous sides 1, 4 and 7 and a divided side

U

°".interrupted by a gap 3. When belt 11 is being worn, side 1 is uppermost. Reference to oo Uthe "upper side" refers to the disposition of belt 11 as it is worn as shown in Fig. 1.

UIntermediate its ends, the top surface of side 1 is provided with a recess 2 which forms a UUo U S seat for the eye of a snap lock 9. Recess 2 is preferably located near the centre of side 1 and may be substantially semicircular as shown in Figs. 1 and 3. Alternatively, it may be substantially rectangular. Gap 3 is preferably located near the centre of side 5. The width of gap 3 is sufficient to allow passage of the eye of snap lock 9 as it is moved during assembly to its seat in recess 2 as shown in Fig. 3. Recess 2 is large enough to fully accommodate the eye of snap lock 9. Further, as shown in Fig. 3, snap lock 9 is of such a length that it is fully encompassed within the link 8. These two factors facilitate threading belt 11 through trouser belt loops.

Claims (3)

1. A trouser belt comprising an elongated, flexible band, characterised in that the band is formed of two lengths of flexible material, a substantially rigid link joining said lengths of flexible material intermediate the length of the belt, the link being substantially rectangular and having adjacent ends of said lengths of flexible material attached to opposite sides of said link and a snap lock carried by the substantially rectangular link. b2. A belt as claimed in Claim 1, wherein the snap lock is suspended from the upper side ofthe link. o:ooo

3. A belt as claimed in Claim 2, wherein a recess is provided in the upper side of the link to form a seat from which the snap lock is suspended. *o S:

4. A belt as claimed in Claim 1, 2 or 3, wherein the adjacent ends of said lengths of o flexible material are each folded around a respective opposite side to substantially cover it. A belt as claimed in any preceding Claim, wherein the link has three continuous sides and a divided side interrupted by a gap. I