GB2042334A - Upholstery button - Google Patents

Abstract

An upholstery button has a body (1) for receiving an upholstered cap (19) and a tongue (5) extending from the body (1) on the side of the body opposite the cap. The tongue (5) extends at least partially across on opening (3) in the body and is tapered towards its tip. A groove (11) is provided across the tongue (5), adjacent its junction with the body (1), for receiving a thread (17) fixing the button to the upholstery. <IMAGE>

Description

SPECIFICATION Upholstery button The invention relates to an upholstery button having a body, an upholstery cap and a receiver for the fastening thread.

Known upholstery buttons have an open or closed eye on the underside of the button for the reception of the fastening.

Other eyes are known (see for example West German Patent Specification No. P 2139361.2) in which the eye is divided by a spring gap through which the fastening thread can easily slide into the eye, but through which, because of the geometrical formation of the ends of the gap, the thread cannot easily come out again.

What is common to known upholstery buttons having closed and open eyes is that they extend a considerable way perpendicular to the body of the button and can therefore fix the thread only along a circle or semicircle, if the upholstery button is attached to an existing loop of thread by the eye. Thus the attachment of the upholstery button to the piece of furniture is not complete, which impairs the aesthetic impression.

An object of the invention is to provide a.

form of fastening for an upholstery button which guarantees not only the fastening of the button to an endless thread or a loop of thread, but also more securely and closer to the upholstered piece of furniture than has hitherto been possible. Thus, thread loops should be able to be taken up without having to be knotted, and on the other hand upholstering of the button on ordinary button covering machines must be possible without readjustment.

According to the present invention an upholstery button has a body for receiving an upholstered cap, and a tongue extending from the body on the side of the body opposite the cap, the tongue extending at least partially across an opening in the body and being tapered towards its tip, a groove being provided across the tongue, adjacent its junction with the body, for receiving a thread fixing the button to the upholstery.

Thus, there is created in the field of upholstery buttons a completely new kind of construction. The production is effected in general by injection moulding of plastics material and, the clearance between the faces of the opening at the side of the tongue and the tongue is so small that the thread can be clamped without trouble in the groove or notch provided.

In order to avoid tearing of the flap out of the base body of the button a rib is preferably provided in the region of the transistion from the tongue respectively to the body, of a thickness such that a loop tension of 50 kg can be withstood.

A measure which advantageously contributes to the success of the securing of the fastening thread is that of providing bulges on the body in the region of the ends of the groove.

The notch or groove serving for the reception of the thread advantageously runs along a diameter of the upholstery button. In this way it is ensured that the button is held always centrally and with the least loose thread.

As compared with known eyes the loop of thread or respectively the free piece of fastening thread may be made many times smaller, which contributes to a particularly favourable clinging of the button close to the upholstery material. Hence the moments which favour tearing apart or tearing out of the button are reduced.

Preferably, the tongue is wedge-shaped and ends in a tiny nose directed upwards for receiving the thread.

The time for fitting or mounting on the fastening loops is speeded up considerably and the quality of the fastening is considerably improved. In practice it is only necessary to engage the fastening thread between the tongue and the body and a slight pull of the body of the button against the thread is sufficient to make the latter slide over the humps lying on opposite sides of the tongue and the body and on into the groove. The humps on the tongue or the flap mentioned above arise through the wedge-shaped construction which becomes thicker towards the root of the tongue, the notch being accommodated in the region of the tongue fixing, which finally forms the hump on the tongue.

By the arrangement of the humplike bulges on the body a slightly offset association of the bulges arises, which still allows the thread to slide through but does not allow it to slide back. It is also possible to exchange the buttons, say if these have become unsightly.

A stiffener rib is advantageously provided (transversely to the direction of the notch), which partially overlaps the tongue and the body.

The body of the upholstery button may advantageously be disc-like, having a small outer flange at the upper edge which enables snapping on of the upholstery clamping cap.

By doing this, compared with known constructions, assembly is also considerably facilitated.

It is only necessary to lay on the cap a piece of the covering fabric which projects beyond the edges of the cap, then the body of the upholstery button is forced in and during forcing in stretches the fabric over the cap of the upholstery button on the one hand and on the other hand by the small circumferential flange mentioned above snaps in against the edge of the cap which runs inwards on a taper. The angle of the tongue with respect to the opening in the body, being inclined with respect to the plane of the body, facilitates the introduction of the fastening thread.

The body of the upholstery button described can be produced by injection moulding and can be manufactured in one piece.

The flap and the body are produced so as to have smooth surfaces in order to avoid injury to the fabric and a contrast with the upholstery.

The bulges on the body, are made so that, seen in the side elevation, they reach about half the height of the tongue. Seen in the direction of the tongue they end on the contrary in general at the height of the groove, i.e., before the front wall of the groove or notch.

Embodiments in which the upholstery cap and the base body are produced from one piece are not excluded. The tongue may also in special cases be punched out from the body.

A considerable advantage of the invention is to be seen in the fact that the back of the button no longer carries the characteristic eye with its projection perpendicular to the plane of the button, but a tongue which to a certain extent is parallel with the plane of the button, whereby the button is built considerably flatter than known upholstery buttons.

Two examples of the buttons according to the invention will now be described with reference to the attached drawings, in which: Figure 1 is an underneath view of a first example; Figure 2 is a section on the line ll-ll in Fig.

1; Figure 3 is a view from above with the upholstery removed; Figure 4 is an underneath view of a second example; and Figure 5 is a section on the line V-V in Fig.

4.

In Figs. 1 to 3 the body 1 of a first upholstery button (the upper part is not designated) is shown consisting of an injection moulding in the form of a disc having an edge with a small flange on the periphery of the edge. A tongue 5 is provided extending from a thickened base part 7, and extends across an opening 3 which has straight walls running in parallel towards one side of the body and an arcuate shape adjacent the edge of the body. The sides of the tongue are tapered (as can be seen in Fig. 1) towards one another away from the base part 7, and the tongue is rounded at its tip. By this means a considerable space is formed between the sides of the opening and the tongue, which space reduces sharply towards the anchor point of the tongue, down to the order of magnitude of the thickness of a thread.

The thickness of the tongue 5 also varies from its point of attachment to the base part 7, the tongue 5 tapering towards its tip. At the junction between the tongue 5 and the base part 7 a notch 11 is provided, for receiving of the thread, perpendicular to the general direction of the tongue and extending along a diameter of the body. In the region of the notch, downwardly extending bulges 1 3 are provided on the underside of the body 1, bounded by the sidewalls of the opening. The bulges are associated with the notch or groove 11 to prevent easy withdrawal of a thread from the groove 11 and off the tongue 5.

Figs. 2 and 3 clearly show a rib 9 which runs across the body 1 in the region of the anchoring of the tongue 5, which rib 9 serves for strengthening the button. In Fig. 3 it may be seen that the ends of the notch 11 are cut into the tongue from the sides. In Fig. 2 the upholstery coating 1 9 is indicated diagrammatically, the cap carrying the coating not being shown in detail. After being forced onto the body part 1 of the button with a snap action the upholstered coating is stretched. In Fig. 2 a thread 1 7 is indicated running through the notch 11.

The second button (shown Fig. 4) has a stiffener rib 1 5 which overlaps the body 1 on one side, and on the other side the tongue 5'.

The notch 11 for receiving the thread is similar to that in the preceding embodiment and the bulges 1 3 at the side may again be clearly seen. The stiffener rib 1 5 enables considerable loadings in the region of the notch 11 to be sustained without fear that the tongue 5' may break and the button thereby drop off.

Claims (10)

1. An upholstery button having a body for receiving an upholstered cap, and a tongue extending from the body on the side of the body opposite the cap, the tongue extending at least partially across on opening in the body and being tapered towards its tip, a groove being provided across the tongue, adjacent its junction with the body, for receiving a thread fixing the button to the upholstery.

2. A button according to claim 1, in which, adjacent the junction between the tongue and body, a rib is formed extending across the tongue.

3. A button according to claim 1 or claim 2, in which ouwardly extending bulges are provided on the side of the body adjacent the groove in the tongue.

4. A button according to any of the preceding claims, in which the groove extends along a diameter of the upholstery button.

5. A button according to any of the preceding claims, in which the tongue is wedgeshaped in cross-section.

6. A button according to any of claims 1 to 5, in which a stiffening rib is provided partially overlapping both the upper side of the tongue and the body.

7. A button according to any of the pre ceding claims, in which the body is generally disc-shaped and has a small outer flange at its upper edge to enable snapping on of the upholstery clamping cap.

8. A button according to any of the preceding claims, in that the tongue is connected to the body by a thickened base part.

9. A button according to any of the preceding claims, in which, adjacent the junction between the tongue and the body, a rib is formed extending across the body parallel with the groove.

10. A button according to claim 1, substantially as described with reference to Figs.

1 to 3 or Figs. 4 and 5 of the accompanying drawings.