GB2140274A

GB2140274A - Fastener means for a personal ornamental object

Info

Publication number: GB2140274A
Application number: GB08412294A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Katsuhiko Someya
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1983-05-27
Filing date: 1984-05-14
Publication date: 1984-11-28
Also published as: GB8412294D0; IT1174554B; IT8421118A0; IT8421118A1; FR2546384A1; DE3419493A1

Abstract

A fastener means 10 for removably mounting an ornamental object such as a brooch, badge, medal, practical ornamental button, et. on a garment is formed of a thin linear element of a metal or a hard synthetic resin comprising a connecting member 16 whose base end is secured to the back of the ornamental object 12 and a spiral member 18 extending from the other end of said connecting member and having an axis parallel to said back of the ornamental object, said spiral member being composed of one to one and a quarter turns, said fastener means being engaged with the garment cloth by passing the pointed free end 30 of the spiral member through the cloth. <IMAGE>

Description

SPECIFICATION A fastener means of a personal ornamental object The present invention relates to a fastener means for an ornamental object attached to a garment and particularly to a fastener means for such ornamental object consisting of a a connecting member formed of a linear element with one end secured to the ornamental object and a spiral member with a pointed end to be engaged in the garment cloth.

The ornamental objects to which the fastener means according to the invention may be secured include buttons, marks badges, medals, cuff links, brooches, jewel-mounted bases, and the like removably attached to garments for practical and/or ornamental purposes.

It is of importance that such ornamental objects should be attached to clothing by a fastener means which is simple in structure and enables a sure fastening free from accidental detachment through an easy and quick manual operation. Further it is not preferable that the fastener means, when attached to a garment, should extend outwardly from the periphery of the ornamental object to expose itself, thus reducing or destroying the aesthetic appearance of the ornament, nor it is desirable that such ornament, when attached to clothing, should be pendent so as to expose its rear side and/or the fastener while the front side of the ornament facing downward is hardly seen.It is also important that the ornamental object should be mounted so as to be slightly movable by the motions of the wearer's trunk and limbs, thereby affording a natural impression to the manner in which the ornament is worn.

There is proposed a fastener for attaching an ornamental object to clothing (Japanese Utility Model postexamination publication No.

34323/1972) or the like which consists of a shaft having a female thread formed therein and secured upright to the back of an ornamental object, and a base member with a screw formed thereon. Such fastener, however, has disadvantages that it creates an aperture in the clothing and does not allow the ornament attached to clothing to swing though the wearer moves, thus lacking elegance. Besides, the loosening of the screw could result in the ornamental object detaching and scattering.

Further, in case the ornamental object has a design thereon with a distinction of top and bottom such as a portrait, the position of the object must be adjusted so that the top of the design is always positioned above the bottom.

There is proposed another type of fastener (Japanese Utility Model post-examination publication No. 12327/1972) composed of a pin secured upright to the back of an ornamental object such as a button and a swirly or Gshaped hook portion pointed at an end and extending from the end of said pin in parallel to the back of the ornamental object. An ornamental object provided with this fastener is attached to clothing by rotating the object so that the pointed end of the fastener makes its way through the texture of the clothing.

However, the operation of passing the pointed hook portion through the outer and inner sides of the clothing texture alternatively as well as the disengaging operation is complicated and troublesome. Especially, where the swirl of such fastener measures about 5 to 6mm in diameter, manual operation is no longer possible. Also, passing the pointed hook portion through the texture while following an arc results in forming loops and deformations in the texture so that the garment could be damaged and the ornamental object fails to appear neatly attached. Moreover, the ornament thus attached is so firmly positioned on the garment as to be kept from swinging though the wearer moves the trunk and/or limbs, thus lacking elegance.Besides, in case the ornamental object has a top as distinguished over a bottom, care must be taken so that the top is positioned precisely above the bottom, thus requiring a skill in said operation to properly mount the ornamental object.

An object of the invention is to provide a fastener means for mounting an ornamental object on the fibre texture of clothing without damaging the texture through a most easy manual operation of passing the pointed end of a spiral member through said texture and half rotating the ornamental object, which can be detached from the clothing by a no less easy operation of reversely half rotating the ornament and pulling it out.

Another object of the invention is to provide a fastener means for an ornamental object ensuring that the ornamental object, once mounted on a garment, is not accidentally detached by the motions of the wearer unless purposely unfastened.

Another object of the invention is to provide a fastenner means whereby the ornamental object may be mounted in a desired position of a garment without the possibility of its being fixed in other position than is intended through a wrong manual operation.

Still another object of the invention is to provide a fastener means whereby, when the ornamental object has a top and a bottom as distinguished from each other, it may be mounted on a garment so that the top is positioned above the bottom.

Another object of the invention is to provide a fastener means as used on such a practical ornamental object as a button of a suit jacket to fasten both sides of the front body so that the button may be removed when the jacket is not worn or is cleaned, thus the button and the jacket being free from damage whereas when the jacket is worn, an ornamental but ton with a specially designed beautiful appearance may be mounted.

Yet another object of the invention is to provide a fastener means which may be formed so small that a plurality of ornamental objects each with a diameter in the order of 5 to 7mm may be mounted on clothing ciose to one another and in good order.

The invention which can attain the above objects is composed of a linear element made of a hard metal or synthetic resin material in the form of a spiral making one turn and 1/6 to 1/4 about an exis which is parallel to and spaced from the back of a personal ornamental object by a distance enabling a preferable appearance of the mounted ornamental object to be obtained depending on the purpose of the ornament, the spiral member being secured to the back of the ornamental object by a connecting member formed either integral with or separate from the spiral member.

The invention will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings which illustrate preferred embodiments of the invention.

Fig. 1 is a perspective view showing a first embodiment of the fastener means according to the invention as attached to an ornamental object being a button.

Fig. 2 is an elevation thereof.

Fig. 3 is a front elevation thereof.

Fig. 4 is a perspective view of the fastener means secured to the button shown in Fig. 1 as mounted on the inner front end of a suit jacket body and thereafter passed through a button hole in the outer front body end.

Fig. 5 is a perspective view showing a second embodiment of the fastener means according to the invention as secured to an ornamental object being a brooch.

Fig. 6 is an elevation of the fastener means shown in Fig. 5 as secured to a flat brooch.

Fig. 7 is a front elevation thereof.

Fig. 8 shows Sow the fastener means shown in Fig. 6 or 7 is secured to a brooch which has a top as distinguished from a botton.

Fig. 9 is a perspective view showing how to mount a brooch having the top and bottom on a garment.

Fig. 10 is a perspective view of a third embodiment of the fastener means according to the invention having an improved connecting member provided integral with the spiral member and secured to a brooch.

Fig. 11 is an elevation thereof.

Fig. 1 2 is another elevation thereof.

Fig. 1 3 is an elevation showing a fourth embodiment of the fastener means according to the invention having a stop which is formed by allowing the connecting member shown in Fig. 10 to extend further from the base end at which the fastener means is secured to the brooch.

Fig. 1 shows a first embodiment of fastener means 10 according to the invention secured upright to the center of a back 14 of an ornamental object 12. The ornamental object 1 2 to which the fastener means according to the invention is secured is a beautifully decorated button used for a practical purpose by being easily removably engaged on men's or women's garments especially on a jacket. The button 1 2 may be a badge button serving as a symbol of a specific group. The button 1 2 may be provided on its exposed side with various aesthetic designs or openworked engravings or jewels. Therefore the button 1 2 is molded of precious metal or beatifully colored synthetic resin material.

The fastener means 10 secured to said button 1 2 is formed by bending a line made of a hard metal or a hard synthetic resin with a circuler cross section about 0.5 to 1.5mm across. The fastener means 10 comprises a connecting member 1 6 and a spiral member 18. The connecting member 16 is formed as a straight post and usually secured upright to the back of the button 12 as shown in Figs 2 and 3. While, in case the connecting member 1 6 is made of a metal, its base end is usually secured to the button 1 2 by soldering the connecting member 1 6 may be formed thereon with a male thread so as to engage with a female thread which may then be formed in the back of the ornamental object.In case the ornamental object is made of a synthetic resin material, the fastener means is also made of a hard synthetic resin, so that the base end of the fastener means is secured to the ornamental object by bonding. In this case, it is convenient to have a hole made in the back of the ornamental object in which to insert the base end of the connecting member 1 6 in order to ensure a firm bond. The connecting member 16, which serves to fasten to the button 12 or the ornamental object the spiral member 1 8 engaging on clothing, needs to be of a length whereby, as shown in Fig. 4, after the spiral member 18 is engaged with an inner front end 20 of the garment body the button 1 2 can be passed through a button hole 24 to fasten both front ends 20, 22, of the body. Therefore the length of the connecting member 1 6 needs to be varied according to the kind of garment for which the button is used. For example, the connecting member 1 6 needs to be relatively long for such garments as winter overcoats whereas it may be relatively short for thin garment texture as of women's summer wear.

From the end of the connecting member 16 extends the spiral member 18 which is formed by bending. As shown in Fig. 2, the spiral member 18 has an axis 26 which is parallel to the button 12 and, as shown in Fig. 3, intersects an axis 28 of the connecting member 16. Such disposition of the spiral member enables a sure fastening of the ornamental object free from accidental detach ment from the garment by a small number of spiral turns. In the case of the first embodiment, a spiral with one and about 1/6:to 1/4 turns is sufficient.The turn of the spiral member 18 has a pitch of about 10 to 30 , whereby the spiral member 1 8 can pass through the pinched and folded portion of the garment texture without excessively tightly pressing, and hence damaging, such portion of the garment between the overlapping part of the spiral member, and the manual fastening operation does not require any special skill. A pitch exceeding 30 could result in the spiral member 18 coming off from the garment texture. The spiral member 1 8 has a conical pointed end 30 so as to be passed through clothing texture without damaging it.

While the diameter of the spiral varies according to the size and/or weight of the decorated button, it may be in the order of 3 to 8mm and preferably about 4mm. The spiral member 1 8 of too small a diameter will destroy the fiber of the clothing texture whereas the member 18 of too large a diameter will cause damage to clothing through friction with underwear or the front half of the garment body.

The operation of engaging the fastener means according to the invention with a garment will now be described referring to Figs.

1 and 4. For example, the portion of the inner front end 20 of a suit jacket immediately beneath a position in which the fastener means is to be engaged is pinched by left hand fingers so that a vertical fold is formed.

Then the button 1 2 shown in Fig. 1 is held at its leftward peripheral portion by right hand fingers and brought to the garment so that the spiral arc portion opposite to the connecting member 1 6 is brought in contact with one side of the vertically folded texture portion.

The pointed end 30 located in the lowermost position of the spiral member 18 is then passed horizontally through the folded texture portion and the button 1 2 is turned 180 in the direction in which said pointed end 30 was passed, thereby mounting the button 1 2 by the fastener means 10 as shown in Fig. 4.

The button 1 2 thus attached is not liable to turn of itself to loosen the engagement since arc portions of the spiral opposite to the connecting member 1 6 are passed through the clothing texture. Also, the button is prevented from facing downward by the pointed end 30 as it engages against the garment.

Further the button thus mounted swings as the wearer moves as if it were fixed by thread so that the button appears naturally mounted.

Still further, when the button 1 2 is passed through the button hole 24 of the outer front end 22 of the body just as is a button fixed by thread, the button 1 2 assumes a preferable position, normally with its lower rim portion in contact with the cloth of the outer front end of the body while its upper rim portion slightly projects forward. In this position of the button 12, the pointed end 30, as shown in Fig. 4, is slightly spaced from the inner front end 20 of the garment body so it does not damage the underwear whereas since the pointed end 30 is directed opposite to the outer front end 22 of the garment body it does not damage the outer front end 22, either.

Also, the ornamental button 12, if molded smaller, may be used as those provided at the end of jacket sleeves or as cuff links for shirts.

The fastener according to the invention may of course be used for women's ornamental objects such as brooches rather than buttons.

Especially, in the case of women's clothing made of a thin material, the fastener means of the invention may be attached by a simple operation if the pointed end is passed through the inner and outer front ends of the garment body superimposed on each other at once.

Figs 5 through 8 show a second embodiment of the invention formed of the same material as that shown in Fig. 1. The second embodiment of the invention or a fastener means 34 consists of a connecting member 36 and a spiral member 38 which is formed separately from the connecting member 36 and fixed to its end. The base end of the connecting member 36 is secured to the back of the top wall 42 of a brooch 40.

The object of the second embodiment is to surely prevent the spiral member from coming off from the garment by securing the spiral member to the connecting member so that the base end of the spiral member slightly extends from the connecting member, thereby providing a stop 46 which engages the garment cloth. The connecting member 36 of a length corresponding to the shape of the brooch 40, which may vary, can be selected and easily secured to the brooch at the spots where the brooches are sold.

The brooch 40 comprises a peripheral wall 48 extending from the rim of the top wall 42 and provided with a flange 50 inwardly directed so as to make the brooch hollow to economize on material employed such as precious metal and make the brooch lightweight.

The outer surface of the brooch is provided with various colorings and engravings so as to appear luxurious.

The connecting member 36 secured to the center of the rear side of the top wall 42 is of a length slightly projecting from the plane comprising the flange 50. In order to firmly connect the spiral member to the brooch, the connecting member preferably is generally frustoconical with the base end having a larger diameter. To secure the connecting member 36 to the brooch 40, a hole is made in the rear side of the top wall 42, into which said base end is inserted and fixed by soldering or bonding, depending on whether the brooch is made of metal or synthetic resin material. The connection between the spiral member 38 and connecting member 36 may be reinforced by forming a groove on the thinner end of the connecting member 36 so as to receive the circumferential surface of the spiral member therein.

The spiral member shown in Figs. 6 and 7 as secured to a flat brooch 40' by means of a short connecting member 36' is exactly the same as the member 38 shown in Fig. 5 fixed to the connecting member 36. Referring to Figs. 6 and 7, the spiral member 38 is secured to a connecting member 36t so that a stop 46 may be provided on the base end side of the spiral member 38 and that the axis of the spiral member may be parallel to the plane of the brooch 40'. The spiral member may be composed of about one and 1/8 turns to one and 3/8 turns as from the junction 44. The spiral member 38 as shown is formed of one and 3/8 turns so that it comprises about one and a half turns if counted from the base end. The spiral member 38 has a pointed end 54.

The pitch 8 of the spiral member 38, i.e., the angle formed by a radial line 56 across the axis 52 and a pitch angle line 58, may be in the order of 10 to 30 as mentioned before. The pitch 8 of the spiral member according to the second embodiment as shown is 20o. The diameter of the spiral member may usually be about 3 to 8mm as previously described. The spiral member 38 according to the second embodiment as shown has a diameter of 4mm.

Where the brooch 40' has a top 60 and a bottom 62 as shown in Fig. 8 as when, for example, the brooch bears a portrait, building, etc., the spiral member is mounted to the brooch 40' so that the axis 52 forms an angle equivalent to said pitch O with a line 64 through the top 60 and bottom 62.

To secure the fastener means according to the invention to the brooch 40', the connecting member 36' may first be fixed to the brooch 40' and then the spiral member 38 to the connecting member 36'. However, usually a connecting member of a length suitable for the shape of the brooch 40' is fixed to the spiral member before being secured to the brooch 40'. In order to fix the spiral member 38 to the brooch 40' through the connecting member 36', a jig stick 66 of a suitable size is inserted through the spiral member 38 to hold it in position and the base end of the connecting member 36' is fitted in the central hole in the rear side of the brooch which is mounted on a suitable work base.Then the connecting member 36' is fixed to the brooch 40' by soldering or bonding so that the axis of the jig stick 66 forms an angle equal to the pitch 8 with the top-tottom line 64. Such assemblying method may be practiced easily by factories and even precious metals shops.

Description will now be made as to how a person attaches the brooch 40' provided with the fastener means 38 to the bosom of the garment he or she is wearing with reference to Fig. 9. First a portion of the garment is pinched by fingers of a hand so as to form a vertical fold 68, whereon the pointed end 54 of the fastener means attached to the brooch 40' which is held by fingers of the other hand is placed in contact with an upper portion of one side of said fold. Then the pointed end 54 is sticked into the fold 68 in a horizontal direction while keeping the outermost arc part of the spiral member, i.e., the farthest part from the connecting member, in contact with said one side of the fold 68.Then the brooch 40' is turned 180 in the direction in which the pointed end 54 was sticked or in the direction shown by an arrow 69, thereby completing the operation for mounting the brooch 40' on the garment. Thus the spiral member 38 fastens the brooch 40' to the garment such that two intersections 72, 74 of the spiral arc and a line 70 parallel to the brooch 40' and passing through the center 0 as shown in Fig. 7 engage with two horizontally aligned points on the respective sides of said vertical fold in the garment cloth so the brooch 40' is mounted on the garment with the top above the bottom and the design on the brooch is properly positioned.

The fastener means of the invention having such effects as described above are available with various connecting members of different diameters and lengths which may be selected according to the shapes of brooches so that the best suited connecting member can be chosen to firmly connect the spiral member to the brooch and at the spots where the brooches are sold. Further, because the brooch is mounted on the garment with the pointed end engaging the garment cloth in a position lower than the intersections 72, 74 as shown in Fig. 8, the brooch is not liable to turn of itself and come off nor does it face downward by its own weight. Also, the stop 46, which is, as shown in Fig. 8, positioned above the points 72, 74 engaging the garment, serves to prevent the spiral member from turning of itself in an unfastening direction as the end of the stop 46 engages against the garment cloth. Thus the brooch is kept from coming off of itself from the garment. The fastener means can be detached from the garment easily by rotating the spiral member in the direction opposite to that in which it was rotated to mount the brooch on the garment, with the brooch so tilted as to keep the stop 46 out of contact with the garment cloth. Further, the stop 46 serves to prevent the brooch from swinging in such a manner as to face overly upward by the wearer's motions as the stop 46 engages the garment cloth, so that the brooch appears stably positioned.

Figs. 10 through 12 show a third embodiment of the fastener means according to the invention made of the same material as the linear element forming the first embodiment shown in Fig. 1. The fastener means according to the third embodiment can be easily obtained by forming said linear element into a spiral, cutting the winding linear element to a length corresponding to about one and a half turns of the spiral, and straightening that portion of the cut length which is to communicate the spiral member and the connecting member.

Referring to Fig. 10, reference numeral 78 designates a brooch in the form of a disk to the back side 80 of which is secured at the center the base end of the connecting member 84 forming part of the fastener means 82 by soldering or bonding. Form the end of the connecting member 84 extends a spiral member 88 having a pointed end 86. As shown in Fig. 12, the spiral member 88 has an axis 90 which is parallel to the reverse side of the brooch 78. The axis 90 of the spiral member 88 intersects the perpendicular 94 to the brooch 78 passing through a point 92 at which the end of the connecting member 84 is fixed to the brooch 78 as shown in Fig. 11.

The base end of the spiral member 88 or an origin 96 is the intersection of the spiral member and the plane 98 parallel to the brooch and passing through the axis 90. The spiral member 88 is composed of about one to one and 1/8 turns as counted from said origin 96. The spiral member according to the third embodiment as shown has a slightly over one turn. A relatively small number of turns of the spiral member 88 is accounted for by the fact that the communicating end of the connecting member 84 overlaps the free end of the spiral member and that this -overlap secures a firm engagement of the spiral member with the garment cloth and obviates the possibility of the brooch coming off of itself from the garment. The base end portion of the connecting member 84, which has the same curvature as the spiral member 88 is secured to the reverse side of the brooch 78 by soldering or bonding.The communicating end portion of the connecting member 84 is made straight by a desired length from the origin 96 in the direction of the tangent to the spiral. The adjusted length of this straightend part determines the distance between the spiral member 88 and the connecting member 84. When the fastener means according to the third embodiment is secured to a brooch of a shape as shown in Fig. 5, the straight part is formed relatively long. While the connecting member 84 as shown and described has a curved form, it may have a straight form extending from the junction 92 through the origin 96 of the spiral member 88 as long as the origin 96 is located lateral to the axis 90 in relation to the brooch 78.

As regard the pitch of the spiral member 88, the method of securing the fastener means according to the third embodiment to the brooch with the axis of the spiral member inclined in relation to said line 64 by an angle equal to the pitch, and the operation whereby to engage the fastener means 82 with the garment cloth, the foregoing descriptions ap ply.

Fig. 1 3 shows a fourth embodiment of the invention which is a modification in shape of the third embodiment shown in Figs. 10 through 1 2. According to the fourth embodi ment, the connecting member 84 has a stop 100 extended by a short length from the junction 92. The stop 100 has the same functions and effects as the stop 46 shown in Figs. 4 through 8.

Claims

1. A fastener means secured to an ornam ental object such as a brooch, badge, medal, button and the like, said fastener means being formed of a thin linear element of metal or synthetic resin and comprising a spiral mem ber pointed at the free end and a connecting member connecting said spiral member to said ornamental object, said spiral member having an axis parallel to the back side of said ornamental object and a pitch of 10 to 30 , and about one to one and a quarter turns, said connecting member having a base end secured to the back of said ornamental object.

2. A fastener means according to Claim 1, wherein said linear element forming the fas tener means has a circular cross section of about 0.5 to 1.5mm.

3. A fastener means according to Claim 1, wherein said connecting member is secured perpendicular to the back of the ornamental object and the spiral member which extends windingly from the end of said connecting member has an axis intersecting the axis of the connecting member.

4. A fastener means according to Claim 1, wherein the spiral member is formed sepa rately from and secured to the connecting member with the base end of the spiral mem ber extended by a short length from its junc tion with the connecting member.

5. A fastener means according to Claim 4, wherein the connecting member has a se lected length as desired and a conical shape thicker at the base end.

6. A fastener means according to Claim 1, 2, 3, 4, or 5, wherein the spiral member is secured to the ornamental object with the axis of the spiral inclined in relation to the line through the top and bottom of the ornamental object by an angle equal to the pitch of the spiral.

7. A fastener means secured to an ornam ental object mounted on a garment, said fastener means being formed of a thin linear element of metal or synthetic resin and com prising a spiral member pointed at an end and a connecting member extending integrally from said spiral member and connecting the spiral member to said ornamental object, said spiral member being secured with its axis parallel to at least the back of the ornamental object and inclined in relation to the topbottom line of the ornamental object by an angle equal to the pitch of the spiral which is in the range of 10 to 30 , and said spiral member being composed of one to one and 1/8 turns, said connecting member extending straight from said spiral member in the direction of a tangent to the spiral by a desired length toward the ornamental object and winding again at its base end portion whose circumferential surface is secured to the back of the ornamental object, the axis of the spiral member intersecting the perpendicular to the plane of the ornamental object, which perpendicular passes through the junction point between the connecting member and the back of the ornamental object.

8. A fastener means according to Claims 1 or 7, wherein the spiral of the spiral member has a diameter of about 3 to 1 Omm.

9. A fastener means according to Claim 7, wherein the winding base end portion of the connecting member is provided with a winding stop extended from the junction between the base end of the connecting member and the ornamental object.