GB2261699A

GB2261699A - Bag, rucksack or the like fastener

Info

Publication number: GB2261699A
Application number: GB9223081A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Tsutomu Fudaki
Original assignee: Yoshida Kogyo KK
Current assignee: YKK Corp
Priority date: 1991-11-07
Filing date: 1992-11-04
Publication date: 1993-05-26
Anticipated expiration: 2012-11-04
Also published as: GB2261699B; KR930010264U; KR960002073Y1; GB9223081D0; JPH0539322U; HK101097A; JP2527592Y2

Abstract

A bag rucksack or the like comprising: a bag body (1) having a mouth; a covering flap (2) extending from said bag body (1) for covering the mouth; a fastener (4) having an anchoring portion secured to said covering flap (2) and a locking tongue (4c) resiliently deformable when said locking tongue (4c) is depressed on its front side; and a receptacle (3) having a gate-shape holding portion (3a) for detachably catching said locking tongue (4c) of said fastener (4), said receptacle (3) having an upper end portion secured to said bag body (1) and a lower end portion separate from said bag body (1). <IMAGE>

Description

BAG, RUCKSACK OR THE LIKE BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention: This invention relates to a bag, a rucksack or the like in which a covering flap (closure) is detachably attached to a body by means a set of fastener and receptacle, and more particularly to such a bag in which the fastener can be caught by and released from the receptacle with ease.

2. Description of the Related Art: In conventional bags of the type described above, a fastener is secured to the covering flap, and a receptacle having a gate-shape holding portion for detachably catching the fastener is secured to the bag body. In opening the bag, the fastener is depressed on its front surface to release the locking tongue from the holding portion of the receptacle, whereupon the covering flap can be opened.

The fastener has the anchoring portion secured to the covering flap and the locking tongue detachably engageable with the receptacle. When the locking tongue is depressed on its front surface, an engaging portion resiliently projecting from the front surface of the locking tongue will be retracted into the locking tongue. Upon release of the pressure, the engaging portion will project from the front surface of the locking tongue again under the resiliency of the engaging portion.

In holding the covering flap on the bag body, when the locking tongue of the fastener secured to the covering flap is inserted into the holding portion of the receptacle secured to the bag body, the engaging portion of the locking tongue is depressed -by the holding portion of the receptacle against the resiliency to retract into the locking tongue. After passed the holding portion of the receptacle, the pressure is released so that the engaging portion of the locking tongue will come into engagement with the holding portion of the receptacle. Further., in releasing the covering flap from the bag body, the engaging portion of the locking tongue is depressed on its front surface to retract inwardly against the resiliency, and at the same time, the locking tongue is removed from the holding portion of the receptacle.

In this removing operation, if the bag body is very flexible, the receptacle on the bag body is also depressed to deform the bag body so that the engaging portion of the locking tongue cannot be retracted into the locking tongue and hence cannot be removed with ease.

This prior art is exemplified by Japanese Utili ty Model Publication No. SHO 57-47331. The lower anchoring portion of the receptacle is secured to the bag body and is connected to the upper holding portion by a stepped portion so as to have between the upper holding portion and the bag body a gap enough to receive a finger of the user. To remove the fastener on the covering flap from the receptacle on the bag body, the fastener is gripped via the receptacle to depress the engaging portion into the locking tongue with a finger inserted into the gap between the upper holding portion and the bag body, and at the same time the fastener is removed from the receptacle.

In the prior art disclosed in the abovementioned publication, since the receptacle may be gripped from opposite sides by fingers, the fastener can be removed more easily than the conventional art.

However, partly since the upper holding portion of the receptacle is not free while the fastener is caught by the receptacle, and partly since the bag body bulges due to the content of the bag body to eliminate the gap, smooth removing operation would be difficult on many occasions.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION it is therefore an object of this invention to provide a bag, a rucksack or the like equipped with a fastener and a receptacle which are detachably engage able with each other easily on any occasion.

According to a first aspect of this invention, there is provided a bag, rucksack or like, comprising: a bag body having a mouth; a covering flap extending from said bag body for covering the mouth; a fastener having an anchoring portion secured to said covering flap and a locking tongue resiliently deformable when said locking tongue is pressed on its front side; and a receptacle having a holding portion for detachably catching said locking tongue of said fastener, said receptacle having one portion secured to said bag body and another portion separate from said bag body.

According to a second aspect of the present invention there is provided a fastening means as claimed in claim 4.

In operation, when bringing the fastener of the covering flap into and out of engagement with the receptacle of the bag body, the receptacle is gripped on the lower end portion always separate from the bag body.

Specifically, since the lower end portion of the receptacle is always separate from the bag body irrespective of whether or not any content exists in the bag body, i. e. irrespective of whether or the bag body is flexible, during the locking and removing operations, the lower end portion of the receptacle is easy to grip by fingers. For example, if the fastener is to be removed from the receptacle to open the covering flap, the receptacle together with the fastener caught thereby is gripped from opposite sides by the thumb and index finger; when the locking tongue of the fastener is depressed on its front surface by the thumb, the locking tongue will be resiliently deformed so that the engaging portion of the locking tongue will become flat, thus removing the fastener from the receptacle without difficulty.If the fastener is to be caught by the receptacle, the receptacle's holding portion separate from the bag body is gripped from opposite surfaces by the thumb and index finger to secure its position, whereupon the locking tongue of the fastener is inserted through the gate-shape holding portion of the receptacle. During that time, the engaging portion is resiliently deformed by the holding portion of the receptacle and then restores its original shape to automatically engage the holding portion.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a vertical cross-sectional view showing a set of fastener and receptacle, of a bag-like article embodying this invention, in coupled position; FIG. 2 shows the manner in which the fastener is removed from the receptacle; FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing the fastener and receptacle in coupled position; and FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing the whole appearance of a rucksack according to a typical embodiment of the invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION The principle of this invention is particularly useful when embodied in a rucksack as shown in the accompanying drawings. FIG. 1 is a vertical crosssectional view showing a set of fastener and receptacle, of the rucksack of the embodiment, in coupled position. FIG. 2 is a vertical cross-sectional view similar to FIG. 1, but showing the manner in which the fastener is removed from the receptacle. FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing the fastener and receptacle in coupled position. FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing the whole rucksack.

In these views, 1 designates a rucksack body; and 2, a covering flap of the rucksack body 1. A receptacle 3 is secured to the rucksack body 1 centrally at its front surface, and a fastener 4 having the same construction as the prior art fastener is attached to the covering flap 2 centrally at its front edge.

The receptacle 3, as shown in FIGS. 1 through 3, has on its upper front surface 3' a gate-shape holding portion 3a in which the fastener 4 is to be inserted.

In this embodiment, the front surface of the whole receptacle 3 has a semi-oval shape, and opposite ends of the holding portion 3a extend to the lower front peripheral edge to form a circular engaging recess 3b.

The receptacle 3 is formed integrally with an anchoring portion 3c extending from the upper rear edge via a spacer portion 3d in parallel to the general front surface 3' of the receptacle 3. The receptacle 3 is also formed with a projection 3e extending from the lower rear edge to the same extent as the anchoring portion 3c. The anchoring portion 3c has on its rear surface an attachment leg 3f secured to the rucksack body 1.

The projection 3e has an inwardly opening and horizontally extending through-hole 3g for attachment of accessories.

The fastener 4 is identical in construction with the prior art fastener and includes, as is apparent from FIGS. 1 and 3, a rectangular planar attachment portion 4a having at its lower edge an engaging recess 4b engageable with the gate-shape holding portion 3a, and a locking tongue 4c extending from the attachment portion 4a. The locking tongue 4c has on its front distal end a circular engaging portion 4d to be fitted in the engaging recess 3b of the receptacle 3 and connected with the attachment portion 4a via a pair of resilient neck portions 4e. The attachment portion 4a has on its rear surface an attachment leg 4f secured to the covering flap 2.

Thus in the fastener 4, like the prior art fastener, the locking tongue 4c projects centrally from the distal end of the covering flap 2, and the attachment portion 4a is attached to the covering flap 2 by fastening the attachment leg 4f with a rivet through a washer 5 and the covering flap 2. Meanwhile with the projection 3e of the receptacle 3 being positioned on the lower side, the anchoring portion 3c is attached to the rucksack body 1 by fastening the attachment leg 3f with a rivet through a washer 6 and the rucksack body 1.

With the rucksack obtained according to this invention, since the lower end of the receptacle 3 is always separate from the rucksack body 1 irrespective whether or not any content exists in the rucksack body 1, i.e. whether the rucksack body 1 bulges in the presence of the content or tends to flex in the absence of any content, the fastener 4 together with the receptacle 3 can be gripped from opposite surfaces by fingers. For example, when the fastener 4 is to be removed from the receptacle 3 to open the covering flap 2, the fastener 4 and the receptacle 3 coupled therewith are gripped from opposite surfaces by the thumb and the index finger and, at the same time, the engaging portion 4d is depressed into the engaging recess 3b of the receptacle 3 as the resilient neck portions 4e are deformed reliably as shown in FIG. 2.

Thus the fastener 4 can be removed from the receptacle 3 with ease. Reversely when the fastener 4 is to be engaged with the receptacle 3, the lower end portion of the receptacle 3 separate from the rucksack body 1 is gripped from opposite surfaces by the thumb and the index finger to secure its position, whereupon the locking tongue 4c of the fastener 4 is inserted through the gate-shape holding portion 4c of the receptacle 3. During this insertion, the engaging portion 4d of the locking tongue 4c will be deformed resiliently by the holding portion 3a and then restores its original shape to automatically engage the holding portion 3a.

Accordingly it is possible to open and close the covering flap easily and reliably in a very simple operation, irrespective of the posture or status of a bag-like article. This invention should by no means be limited to the foregoing embodiment and may be also applied to a modification in which the upper portion of the receptacle is secured to the body of a bag-like article directly, i.e. with no spacer portion. This is, as long as the lower portion of the receptacle is separate from the bag-like body, it is possible to expect the same results; therefore various modifications may be made if they do not depart from the principle of this invention.

As is apparent from the foregoing description, according to this invention, since the receptacle is secured at its upper portion to the bag-like body and is free at its lower portion from the bag-like body, it is possible to open and close the covering flap easily and reliably in a very simple operation, which cannot be expected in the prior art.

Claims

CLAIMS:

1. A bag, rucksack or the like, comprising: (a) a bag body (1) having a mouth; (b) a covering flap (2) extending from said bag body (1) for covering the mouth; (c) a fastener (4) having an anchoring portion secured to said covering flap (2) and a locking tongue (4d) resiliently deformable when said locking tongue (4c) is pressed on its front side; and (d) a receptacle (3) having a holding portion (3a) for detachably engaging said locking tongue (4c) of said fastener (4), said receptacle (3) having one portion secured to said bag body (1) and another portion separate from said bag body (1).

2. A bag, rucksack or the like according to claim 1, wherein said receptacle (3) is formed integrally with an anchoring portion (3c) extending from an upper rear edge via a spacer portion (3d) in parallel to an upper front surface (3') of said receptacle (3).

3. A bag, rucksack or the like according to claim 2, wherein said receptacle (3) is formed with a projection (3e) extending from a lower rear edge to the same extent as said anchoring portion (3c).

4. A fastening means adapted to fasten a first fabric piece (1) to a second fabric piece (2), said fastening means comprising: a fastener (4) having an anchoring portion secured to said second fabric piece (2) and a locking tongue (4c) resiliently deformable when said locking tongue (4c) is pressed on an outwardly facing surface, said outwardly facing surface being parallel or substantially parallel to said first fabric piece; and a receptacle (3) secured to said first fabric piece (1), said receptacle having a holding portion (3a) for releasably engaging said locking tongue (4c) of said fastener (4); whereby said fastening means can be gripped, so that said receptacle (3) is not pressed towards said first fabric piece (1) when said outwardly facing surface of said locking tongue (4c) is pressed to disengage said locking tongue (4c) from said holding portion (3a).

5. A fastening means substantially as hereinabove described with reference to the accompanying drawings.