GB2212779A - Badges - Google Patents

Abstract

A badge (10) moulded in one piece from synthetic plastics material comprises a body (12), a first lug (16) with at least one resilient arm (20) provided with a transverse groove to receive part (36) of a badge pin, a second lug (18) having at least two resilient spaced arms (22) which overlap and are positioned on either side of the arm of the first lug, so that the or each arm of the first lug penetrates between two arms on the second lug, and each arm of the second lug having grooves aligned with the groove in the arm or arms of the first lug to accommodate and retain the shank of a pin for attaching the badge to clothing. The badge may constitute a label or brooch, and may be secured by a strap (Fig. 1) passing beneath the resilient arms (20, 22) instead of by a pin. <IMAGE>

Description

IMPROVEMENTS IN BADGES AND THE LIKE This invention relates to badges and the like made of synthetic plastics material which are to be attached by means of a safety pin or the like to clothing.

Badges are well known and in wide use.

However, it is not easy to provide a secure attachment of the safety pin to the body of the badge in a simple and cheap fashion. Generally it is necessary to fix the pin in place by having a piece of material which passes over part of the pin and which traps it between the material and the body of the badge. The material is then, for example, held in place by an adhesive or welded in place.

The object of the present invention however is to provide an arrangement whereby the safety pin or the like can be attached directly to the injection moulded body of the badge without the use of adhesive or additional components.

According to the invention, the badge is moulded in one piece from synthetic plastics material and comprises a body, a first lug with at least one resilient arm provided with a transverse groove to receive part of a badge pin, a second lug having at least two resilient spaced arms which overlap and are positioned on either side of the arm of the first lug, so that the or each arm of the first lug penetrates between two arms on the second lug, and each arm of the second lug having grooves aligned with the groove in the arm or arms of the first lug to accommodate and retain the shank of a pin for attaching the badge to clothing.

Such an arrangement is very simple since the whole badge can be formed as a single injection moulded unit of plastics material and the mould can be one which has no moving parts. This naturally enables the product to be cheap.

A pin for the badge is held trapped between the arms of the two lugs and is positioned in the aligned grooves. The pin does not need to be incorporated into the mould to allow the plastics material to flow around it but is fitted in after the moulding has been formed.

This can be achieved by means of a suitable press mechanism which resiliently forces the arms open and allows the pin to be inserted.

When the press is then released, the inherent resiliency of the arms allows them to return to their normal position so trapping the shank of the pin in place. The pin is thus held very securely indeed by the arms and can really only be removed by using a similar press mechanism to bend the arms open and part them.

The badge according to the invention is moulded from a synthetic plastics material and this should be of a material, and the dimensions of the arms and lugs should be, such that the arms have sufficient resiliency to allow them to be bent open one time by the press mechanism but should have sufficient inherent rigidity to hold the pin securely when the arms are in their normal position.

An example of a suitable material is plasticized polyvinyl chloride.

It is preferred but not essential that the grooves be positioned such that they are in the forward facing surfaces of the second lug which has the two arms and in the rearward facing surface of the single arm on the said first lug. This has the advantage that two spaced arms are in effect holding the pin to the body of the material and this is found to give greater security to the fixing of the pin. The arrangement could however be reversed if desired with the single arm on the said first lug trapping the shank of the pin in place and holding it against the body of the badge.

Also the first lug could have more than one arm, e.g. two arms, and the second lug more than two arms, e.g. three arms, provided the arms on the first lug penetrate between pairs of arms on the second lug so that there are arms from alternate lugs in the direction of the transverse grooves.

According to one preferred embodiment of the invention, the badge has a rearwardly directed face and the lugs extend out behind that rearwardly directed face so that they form a bridge with that face. Then a strap, band or the like can be passed beneath the lugs for use as an alternative means of fixing the badge in place instead of using a pin.

This arrangement increases the versatility of the badge according to the invention.

The badge according to the invention can use any form of pin for fixing it to clothing and the like. By way of example it is normal to use a safety pin and to hold one shank of the safety pin by the lugs and the other shank can then be clipped and unclipped when necessary for attaching the pin and badge to clothing in a conventional fashion.

As will be appreciated no separate adhesive is required since the whole badge is formed in a single piece and the pin can thereafter be fixed in place using the press mechanism as described above without the use of any further component parts.

The invention will now be described, by way of example, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 is perspective view of a badge according to the invention prior to the fixing of the pin in place and showing the use of an arm band with the badge; Figure 2 is a view similar to Figure 1 showing the badge with the pin attached; Figure 3 is a section taken along the line 3-3 of Figure 1; and Figure 4 is a section taken along the line 4-4 of Figure 1.

The badge 10 according to the invention has been formed as a single one-piece moulding.

It comprises a circular body 12 with a surrounding enlarged ring-like rim 14.

Integrally formed and projecting rearwardly from the circular body 12 are a pair of lugs 16 and 18. As best seen in Figures 3 and 4, in the region of the lugs 16 and 18 the circular body 12 has an opening.

The lug 16 has a narrow central arm 20 whilst the lug 18 has a pair of spaced arms 22.

These embrace the arm 20 and are positioned on either side of it with the arm 20 projecting between the two arms 22.

In the rearwardly facing surface of the arm 20 is provided a transverse recess 26.

Similarly aligned recesses 28 are provided in the forward facing surfaces of the arm 22. These recesses 26 and 28 are best shown in Figures 3 and 4 and are designed to accommodate a pin such as a safety pin 30 as shown in Figure 2.

In order to insert the safety pin once the badge 10 has been formed, a suitable press mechanism is provided to distort the arms 20 and 22 in a rearward direction so that they bend outwardly in the direction of the arrows 32 and 34 shown in Figures 3 and 4, respectively. Once the arms have been bent sufficiently apart, the shank 36 of the pin 30 can be inserted between the arms and then when they are released their inherent resiliency will cause them to return to the shape shown in the drawings with the result that the shank 36 will now be accommodated in and trapped by the aligned recesses 26 and 28.

As will be appreciated, this arrangement is very simple to make since the badge is formed as a single one-piece moulding and it can be made on an injection mould with no moving parts. Further, no additional parts or components other than the safety pin 30 are necessary and the pin 30 is held in place by the rigidity of the arms 20 and 22. Those arms however do have sufficient resiliency so that under the high forces of the special press mechanism used to separate them the pin can be inserted once and for all.

As an alternative to using the pin 30, the same badge 10 can be secured for example on an arm band 40. This is shown by way of example in Figure 1. The band passes beneath the arms 20 and 22 since it will be seen that the lugs 16 and 18 project outwardly from the rear of the circular body 12 and provide an open bridge region through which the band 40 can be passed as an alternative to fixing the badge in place with the pin 30. This increases the versatility of the badge according to the invention.

Although the invention has been described generally and specifically in relation to a badge, the arrangement can be used as part of a label, broach or any other component which it is desired to fix in place either by means of a band 40 or a pin such as safety pin 30. The word "badge" as used herein is therefore to be construed broadly to cover all such items.

Claims (6)

1. A badge moulded in one piece from synthetic plastics material comprising a body, a first lug with at least one resilient arm provided with a transverse groove to receive part of a badge pin, a second lug having at least two resilient spaced arms which overlap and are positioned on either side of the arm of the first lug, so that the or each arm of the first lug penetrates between two arms on the second lug, and each arm of the second lug having grooves aligned with the groove in the arm of arms of the first lug to accommodate and retain the shank of a pin for attaching the badge to clothing.

2. A badge made from synthetic plastics materials substantially as described herein with reference to the accompanying drawings.

Amendments to the claims have been filed as follows 1. A badge moulded in one piece from synthetic plastics material and comprising a body, a first lug extending behind the body and having at least one resilient arm provided with a transverse groove to receive part of a badge pin, a second lug extending behind the body and having at least two resilient spaced arms which overlap and are positioned on either side of the arm of the first lug, so that the or each arm of the first lug penetrates between two arms on the second lug, and each arm of the second lug having grooves aligned with the groove in the arm or arms of the first lug to accommodate the shank of a pin, the groove in the said one arm or the grooves in the said two arms facing rearwardly and respectively the grooves in the said two arms or the groove in the said one arm facing forwardly so as to trap and hold the shank of the pin in place.

2. A badge as claimed in Claim 1 in which the whole badge has been formed as a single injection moulded unit of synthetic plastics material.

3. A badge as claimed in Claim 1 or Claim 2 in which the grooves are positioned such that they are in the forward facing surfaces of the second lug which has the two arms and in the rearward facing surface of the single arm on the said first lug.

4. A badge as claimed in any preceding claim in which the body of the badge has a rearwardly directed face and the lugs extend out behind that rearwardly directed face so that they form a bridge with that face so that a strap, band or the like can be passed beneath the lugs for use as an alternative means of fixing the badge in place instead of using a pin.

5. A badge as claimed in any preceding claim in which the pin is a safety pin and one shank of the safety pin is held by the lugs and the other shank can then be clipped and unclipped when necessary for attaching the pin and badge to clothing in a conventional fashion.

6. A badge substantially as herein described with reference to the accompanying drawings.